Weird Waste: How do you dispose of gas canisters in Bristol?

Weird Waste – recycling gas bottles and gas canisters

Our #WeirdWaste blog series is here to answer the age-old question: “how am I meant to dispose of this?”

We’re exploring how to recycle, reuse or dispose of unusual household items. Come with us, as we go beyond bottles, cans and card! Today, we’re going to tell you how to recycle gas canisters in Bristol.

Never put gas canisters or gas bottles in your bin or recycling containers.

Bristol Waste cannot safely process them as part of your kerbside collection.

They are extremely dangerous when crushed or pierced by our machinery and cause explosions and serious fires.

Always dispose of gas bottles and gas canisters at specialised drop-off points.

You can dispose of gas canisters and gas bottles (from BBQs, camping stoves, patio heaters etc) at your local Household Reuse and Recycling Centre.

Most retailers who sell gas like butane and propane will also accept used containers to be safely reused or recycled. So, simply return used bottles and canisters to where you bought them!

How come you can recycle aerosols but not gas bottles or canisters in your normal household bins?

Aerosols (like deodorant, hairspray or air fresheners) contain relatively small amounts of ignitable product, at relatively low pressure. These pose much less of a risk and can be safely recycled in your green recycling box. Find out more about sorting your household recycling here.

Gas canisters are highly pressurised and even seemingly empty ones will still have flammable product in. This means that the compacting mechanism in our trucks or the equipment at our depot can crush or pierce them, causing them to explode.

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