Disposal of small propane canister question.
Is it okay to toss the small green Coleman barbecue type propane canisters into the trash dumpster when they are empty? Or is there a proper disposal management for them?
Forum Discussion
Atlee wrote:
The haven't answered, because they have no idea.
Most folks who religiously recycle, have no idea what happens to the stuff they recycle. They just know to put stuff in either Box A,
Box B, or Box c, and that's the end of it.obgraham wrote:
But nobody has answered my question: what actually happens to the propane canister when it goes into a specific recycle bin, or when it is picked out of the usual recycle line?
Steel recycling process is pretty straight forward. On a sort line, the plastic base and plastic caps are removed, and the steel canister is tossed on a conveyor that takes it to a compactor, or to a pile that is feed to a compactor. The compactor then crushes the canister, and other steel to be recycled in a bale (A large square bundle of steel) The compactors are able to exert hundreds of tons of pressure to do this, they do not care in any propane may remain in the canister, they simply flatten them.
The bales are then sold to a steel mill, who will melt then down in a furnace, along with fresh iron ore, and other trance elements to make 'new' steel, that is then cast into ingots, bars or sheets, and sold to manufacturers.
