Disposal of small propane canister question.

[bighatnohorse]

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?

[Atlee]

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?

[obgraham]

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?

[bighatnohorse]

Well, I'm here in Boulder Beach NRA campground and there was one propane bottle sitting on the ground next to the dumpster. Now there are two propane bottles. I couldn't make myself throw it into the trash.

[CavemanCharlie]

owenssailor wrote:
In our small town in Ontario Canada about the only thing that goes to landfill (garbage) is household waste. Wine,beer and liquor bottles are recycled. Metal and plastics are all recycled as are paper, cardboard and styrofoam products.

We find it very difficult when we travel in the US to be in so many places including state parks where all items just go into garbage.

It is like going back 50 years in how the piles of waste we humans create is handled.

Yup. We are 30 to 50 years behind in everything.


I never realized until now that this was such a big deal. I don't use many of them but, I will be more careful of what I do with them after they are empty.

[doc_brown]

On the ground next to the dumpster, I let the management make the decision where they should end up. Above my pay grade.

[RinconVTR]

My Lego Robotic Team did a significant presentation project on this very topic.

LP bottles of any size should never enter the WASTE system nor RECYCLING system.

There are special drop off areas in every state but they are rarely advertised and often require a special trip.

[COLOR=]If there are questions, READ THE BOTTLE...and CALL THE NUMBER.


You may not think those little camping bottles (and typical Mapp/Propane tall bottles) would cause much harm. And you would be dead wrong. In Milwaukee we have 2 very large automatic recycling systems/locations that when these get thru visual inspection they have caused explosions and multiple fires.

http://dnr.wi.gov/files/PDF/pubs/wa/WA1575.pdf


This (methods to empty bottles) was not found to be acceptable to those operating the automated machines in WI but admitted it might reduce explosions.

http://www.srmtenv.org/web_docs/swm/Green-Key.pdf


For the automatic machines, this belt is the last manual inspection of material before all enters the machine. Workers stand along here all day picking out hazards, of which signs hang all around to help ID what to pick out.

[Fizz]

obgraham wrote:
I think this difference in recycling approach between Canada and the US is a bit more complicated.
I've seen studies showing that much of the recycling is simply not cost effective, and is more of a sociopolitical statement than one of economics. That's why recycle programs in the US are falling into disfavor -- communities just don't want to pay for them.

I'd be interested in finding out specifically what happens to that steel propane can placed in the recycle bin in Canada. Where does it end up, and what is the cost to send it there?

That's not to say there is no value in recycling. Aluminum cans, cardboard, and newsprint (back when there were newspapers!) are easily recycled into more product.

It's not about cost anymore.
It's about cleaning up your back yard.
You have to start somewhere.

[westend]

They have a sign on the local recycle/haz waste drop-off site: "Reduce, reuse, recycle". Any one of those is appropriate for propane cylinders. In my area, putting an empty in the household trash or the recycling could mean trouble.

FWIW, I'm real happy with our local recycling center. They have a separate room with shelves full of paint, cleaners, solvents, etc. I haven't bought any varnish or stain in years. Take as much as you want and no charge!

[Jayco-noslide]

Guess I never thought about recyling them but I will now.

[bobsallyh]

There is a recycling bin at Bakers Hole Forest Service Campground just north on RT. 191 out of West Yellowstone, MT. That wire mesh basket seems to fill up fast. It is the only place I have seen a recycling bin for them. When I used them many years ago, I'd remove the Schrader valve on the can and toss it in the trash.

[K3WE]

SidecarFlip wrote:

Halmfamily wrote:
Use them for target practice.

So do I actually. Then it's off to the scrap barrel and then to the scrap yard eventually.

^^^This^^^

To be honest, I have NOT done this- but now see the beauty.

Throwing a 'sealed-propane-containing' container in the recycling bin seems like a slightly bad practice...mini explosion. Maybe not the end of the world, but...

While the 'not-supposed-to-refill' crowd argues with the 'but that's what I do' bunch and the 'it's so cheap anyway' bunch...

Shoot them...(that vents them), and then recycle them, save the planet, practice your marksmanship and sleep guilt free that you are not adding hazardous waste to the landfill.

🙂

[hotpepperkid]

Halmfamily wrote:
Use them for target practice.

Yep

[obgraham]

I think this difference in recycling approach between Canada and the US is a bit more complicated.
I've seen studies showing that much of the recycling is simply not cost effective, and is more of a sociopolitical statement than one of economics. That's why recycle programs in the US are falling into disfavor -- communities just don't want to pay for them.

I'd be interested in finding out specifically what happens to that steel propane can placed in the recycle bin in Canada. Where does it end up, and what is the cost to send it there?

That's not to say there is no value in recycling. Aluminum cans, cardboard, and newsprint (back when there were newspapers!) are easily recycled into more product.

[troubledwaters]

Oops - operator error

[troubledwaters]

SoundGuy wrote:

troubledwaters wrote:
Seriously - You refill them and then you don't have people disposing of a few hundred thousand steel containers in a landfill every year.

That's a regulatory issue that can easily be solved, just as it has been here in Canada. Time to catch up.

So in the meantime until we catch up what am I supposed to do, just leave em laying around in the garage and go buy new ones?

And then, I should take the old cylinders, put them in my car, drive to the recycling place, which then heats the steel up a few thousand degrees and melts it into sheets of steel, which are loaded on a truck then transported to another plant, which heats the steel again and stamps it into a cylinder, then fills the cylinder with gas, puts the cylinder in a truck and ships it to a store, you go to the store in your car again and buy a new one.

I think I'll just recycle the ones I got just myself like I been doing.