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Disposal of used gas canisters

Disposal of used gas canisters


Postby al78 » Wed Apr 21, 2021 11:56 am

I have a small propane/butane gas canister (the sort that screws onto a stove) which is now empty and I wish to dispose of it responsibly. There is a small amount of residual fuel inside, but not enough to light the stove. It is ok to put these in the household recycling or do they need to be treated as hazardous waste? Is it safe to puncture the canister with a drill and try and get rid of any residual fuel?
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby MtnGoat » Wed Apr 21, 2021 12:50 pm

In the past I have open the valve manually to proove that it is fully empty, then recycled as metal waste.... rightly or wrongly...!

You can get adapter to refill them, but I have never tried them (and ultimately you would be left with the same issue at the end anyway i suppose!)
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby Fiona Reid » Wed Apr 21, 2021 2:57 pm

You can get a wee tool called Crunchit that is designed tto both vent and puncture the canister safely. I use that and then lob in the can recycling bin. Much safer than bashing a hole with a screwdriver etc
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby al78 » Wed Apr 21, 2021 4:28 pm

Fiona Reid wrote:You can get a wee tool called Crunchit that is designed tto both vent and puncture the canister safely. I use that and then lob in the can recycling bin. Much safer than bashing a hole with a screwdriver etc


Thanks, I've ordered one and I have partially screwed the canister onto the stove which partially opens the valve and allows the leftover gas to be released slowly under the remaining canister pressure.
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby Tringa » Wed Apr 21, 2021 7:20 pm

Wouldn't the residual gas leak out of the canister if you attached it to a stove, open the valve and let it vent for a few minutes outside?

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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby al78 » Wed Apr 21, 2021 9:10 pm

Tringa wrote:Wouldn't the residual gas leak out of the canister if you attached it to a stove, open the valve and let it vent for a few minutes outside?
Dave


I tried that and it didn't work. It was when I was unscrewing the canister I heard a faint hissing noise so I decided to leave the canister half unscrewed until the hissing stopped. The canister is now completely empty of any liquid and it is probably close to depressurised.
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby Arthurs Eat » Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:24 am

I recall some outdoor shops recycle them?
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby pww235 » Fri Apr 23, 2021 7:56 pm

Fiona Reid wrote:You can get a wee tool called Crunchit that is designed tto both vent and puncture the canister safely. I use that and then lob in the can recycling bin. Much safer than bashing a hole with a screwdriver etc


Love my Crunchit. DEFINATELY use it outdoors though......took an age for the smell of the gas to leave my flat the first time I used it.
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby al78 » Fri May 21, 2021 10:19 am

I bought a crunchit and used it to puncture the canister before throwing it into the recycling.
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby Giant Stoneater » Fri May 21, 2021 3:31 pm

al78 wrote:
Fiona Reid wrote:You can get a wee tool called Crunchit that is designed tto both vent and puncture the canister safely. I use that and then lob in the can recycling bin. Much safer than bashing a hole with a screwdriver etc


Thanks, I've ordered one and I have partially screwed the canister onto the stove which partially opens the valve and allows the leftover gas to be released slowly under the remaining canister pressure.


Could you not have cooked something with the leftover gas, it's amazing how much burn time you can get from a little gas.
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby al78 » Fri May 21, 2021 5:03 pm

Giant Stoneater wrote:
al78 wrote:
Fiona Reid wrote:You can get a wee tool called Crunchit that is designed tto both vent and puncture the canister safely. I use that and then lob in the can recycling bin. Much safer than bashing a hole with a screwdriver etc


Thanks, I've ordered one and I have partially screwed the canister onto the stove which partially opens the valve and allows the leftover gas to be released slowly under the remaining canister pressure.


Could you not have cooked something with the leftover gas, it's amazing how much burn time you can get from a little gas.


I used the canister to make tea on my allotment site until the stove went out one afternoon and it was impossible to light it again. After several attempts I declared it empty and vented the small remains of any gas (by only partially screwing it onto the stove) before puncturing it and discarding it.
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby Fiona Reid » Fri May 21, 2021 6:34 pm

Giant Stoneater wrote:

Could you not have cooked something with the leftover gas, it's amazing how much burn time you can get from a little gas.


As al78 suggests, I also usually run the canister till it won't light/ goes out. We'll save the nearly dead ones for car camping where the extra weight etc doesn't matter. I don't think we've ever wasted any. However, you always seem to end up with a tiny bit of gas left so you need to vent or puncture before recycling.
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Re: Disposal of used gas canisters

Postby AJ01 » Sat May 22, 2021 9:43 am

Fiona Reid wrote:...
However, you always seem to end up with a tiny bit of gas left so you need to vent or puncture before recycling.


Yes - the gas will leave the canister through the open valve while it is at a higher pressure than the air outside, and when the pressures are near-enough equal it will stop. But you will still have a canister full of gas at atmospheric pressure, presenting a safety hazard. The only effective way of dispersing that gas is to make a hole in the canister much larger than the open valve by puncturing it.

[/physics lesson] :D
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