Metro Vancouver is warning the public about the dangers of not properly disposing of nitrous oxide canisters.
The items, such as laughing gas or whippets, are ending up in the garbage and officials say they are exploding, posing serious risks to workers and equipment.
“What we’re seeing is that individuals and potentially businesses are inappropriately disposing of nitrous oxide cylinders in the garbage, and this is creating a significant impact on the regional solid waste system,” Paul Henderson, the general manager of Solid Waste Services for Metro Vancouver, said.
“And then the second thing we want to communicate is that those cylinders can be dropped off for free if they’re empty at our regional solid waste facilities that are spread around the region.”
Henderson said the cylinders are high-pressure gas canisters entering the regular garbage stream.
“What we’re particularly seeing though is that any of those cylinders that make it to our waste to energy facility that’s located in Burnaby, what we’re seeing is under the heat, the hot conditions that are in the waste of energy facility, the gas is expanding within those cylinders, and then the cylinders burst, resulting in explosions at the waste energy facility,” he added.
Get breaking National news
Henderson said these explosions endanger workers at the facility and they are so violent that they are damaging the equipment.
As a result, empty cylinders can be dropped off at any recycling facility in Metro Vancouver for free.
Nitrous oxides are used for a range of purposes, including at the dentist’s office, by paramedics and as a whipped cream canister.
Health Canada said recreational nitrous oxide products are deceptively sold under different brand names, including “Bamboozle,” “Primewhip” and “GreatWhip Max Cream Charger,” and include unpermitted flavoured gases.
In November, Health Canada recalled nearly a dozen “laughing gas” products, saying they are being sold recreationally without authorization, which poses a serious safety risk.
Henderson said that in the last few months, they have been seeing more and more canisters being disposed of in the garbage.
“One of the operators of the waste energy facility, just the scale of the issue, they noted that in one 24-hour period, they saw 21 individual explosions that they attributed to these cylinders being in the waste stream. So it’s a very significant issue.”
Comments