How to dispose of camping gas canisters

Burn the canister empty on your stove, outdoors, then follow your council's rule, which is usually a metal recycler or a recycling centre. If that place wants it punctured, pierce it only after a tool such as the Jetboil CrunchIt stops letting gas out. Keep it out of your home bins unless your council says in writing that they take it, because most councils checked here forbid it.

What counts as a camping gas canister#

A camping gas canister is a small steel can of liquid fuel gas, usually isobutane mixed with propane or butane. It is sold full and is not meant to be refilled. The common type has a threaded valve on top, built to the European standard EN 417. That valve is the Lindal valve: a stove screws onto it, and it seals again when the stove comes off, as leaving a canister on the stove explains.

EN 417 also covers a second type with no valve at all. The stove pierces a sealed top when you fit it. Unlike a Lindal valve, a pierced top cannot seal itself again.

UK recycling sites sort canisters by those two types. Suffolk Recycling calls them valve-top and pierced-top, and it sends them to different places.

Three other words matter on this page:

• Empty. A canister is never truly empty once the flame dies. The liquid is gone, but the can is still full of gas vapour at about air pressure. CleanLA warns that "empty" single-use cylinders "often still contain a small amount of gas".
• Venting. Gas escaping from the can without burning, which is what you hear as a hiss.
• Mixed metal. Scrap metal that is not one clean kind, such as steel with plastic or rubber parts still attached. MSR says its canisters are "painted steel and plastic valves" and can "technically" be recycled as mixed metal.

A 1 lb propane cylinder, the green or blue bottle for camp grills and lanterns, is not an EN 417 canister. It is a DOT-39 cylinder with a different valve, and it has its own section below.

Where can you take a gas canister? The rule by place#

No country checked here has one national rule. Each council or waste authority sets its own, and they do not agree. These are the ones read for this page.

Read across the rows and three things are true almost everywhere. Burn it empty first. Do not put it in a recycling bin. Metal recycling is the usual destination. The puncture step is the one that flips from place to place.

Bin or no bin: why the advice splits#

Search this question and you find two answers. One says an empty can is just steel and can go in the bin. The other says never.

The "never" answer is the one to follow unless your council tells you otherwise. Suffolk explains why. A camping canister holds "up to 3 times the pressure" of a deodorant can, which "could cause serious damage at the re-processing facility". Calgary calls it "a major safety hazard" for drivers and plant staff. StopWaste says camp stove cylinders "should never be put in a curbside bin".

That risk is not only on paper. In 2020, a propane canister thrown in household trash exploded at the waste plant in Hampden, Maine. The Bangor Daily News reports that it injured a worker and shut the plant for a time. The operator of a single-sort plant in southern Maine told the paper a canister "could blow up in the truck".

The "bin is fine" answer persists because it is sometimes true where you live. Palmerston North tells residents to empty canisters, then put them in the rubbish bag. In Maine, the state's solid waste official told the paper that empty canisters are legal in the trash. So both answers exist in writing. The difference is that the second one only holds where your own council has said it.

Recycling bins are worse than rubbish bins on every page read here. Even MSR, which wants its cans recycled, warns that "very few curbside recycling programs" take them. A can picked up from your kerbside box is not the same as a can recycled.

Step 1: burn it empty#

Every source agrees on this step, and it is the one that makes the others safe.

Fit the stove outdoors and run it with the valve fully open until the flame goes out. Suffolk says "it can take a surprising amount of time" because the last of the fuel burns slowly at low pressure. It adds that you should leave the can open a while after the flame "sputters out", so the last vapour can escape.

MSR wants the gas burnt, not released: "it's better to burn the hydrocarbons than release them". So use the last of a can for cooking where you can. A part-used can is still worth taking on a short trip, and the canister weighing guide tells you how much is left.

MSR also gives a purge for a can you think still holds gas. Attach the stove, turn the can upside down, and open the valve, clear of any flame or spark. That lets the remaining gas out unburnt, so treat it as the last resort, not the first.

Cold makes this step harder. A cold can stops feeding the stove while it still holds liquid. The weighing guide puts the last 10 to 15 g as unavailable in cold conditions. If a cold can weighs well over its empty figure, warm it and burn it again, as canister stoves in the cold describes.

Step 2: puncture it, but only when venting stops#

Many recyclers want a hole in the can, because a hole proves no pressure is left. AIM Recycling in Bangor, Maine, takes canisters only with "a hole punched in them" or cut in half. StopWaste asks for a hole or the valve removed, so the tank sits "at atmospheric pressure".

The Jetboil CrunchIt is a small tool for this job. It screws onto the canister's valve like a stove, then a spike pierces the side. Its instruction sheet sets out the order:

1. Use the can until the flame goes out on the stove, with the valve fully open.
2. Screw the CrunchIt on. A small amount of gas may vent as it threads on, and the sheet calls that normal.
3. If the venting does not stop within a few seconds, stop. Unscrew the tool and burn the rest of the fuel on the stove. Do not try to puncture a can that is not completely empty.
4. Only once venting has stopped, screw the tool fully down and press the handle to pierce the can.
5. Pierce it in 3 to 4 well spaced places, so anyone can see the can is empty.
6. Recycle it as you would a tin or steel can, under your local rules.

The same sheet sets the safety limits. Use it outdoors only, nowhere near a flame or other ignition source, and at least 10 ft (3 m) from anything that burns. It is for EN 417 canisters only, and Jetboil guarantees fit with its own Jetpower cans only. It is not for 1 lb propane cylinders.

You do not need the tool. MSR says a can opener, a screwdriver or an ice axe will do. It warns never to use a saw, because a saw "can create sparks that will ignite remaining fuel". And you do not need to take the valve off to meet mixed metal rules.

Skip this step where the local rule says so. Calgary says plainly "Do not puncture or crush propane tanks", and it lists camping and butane canisters on the same page. Suffolk sends whole valve-top cans to a gas bottle cage. In those places, a hole is not wanted.

Step 3: take it to the right place#

MSR's advice is short: if in doubt, take the can to a metal recycling centre, since "these places almost always handle mixed metals". In the UK the usual place is the council's recycling centre. Suffolk puts empty pierced-top cans in the metal container and valve-top cans in the gas bottle cage, and asks you to speak to site staff.

Phone first in the US. The Maine DEP official told the Bangor Daily News to call your transfer station or metal recycler, because "some do, and some don't". The paper found no maker or retailer collection scheme in Maine. When it first ran in 2021, it said no US state had a statewide collection programme.

Household hazardous waste sites are the other route. Calgary takes camping canisters free at its fire hall drop-offs. Its City Eco Centres take them too, though charges apply if you bring other garbage. In Maine, the city of Bangor told the paper such collection days are rare because of the cost.

What about 1 lb propane cylinders?#

The 1 lb propane cylinder is a harder problem, and most of the Maine reporting is about it.

The rules for it point the other way on puncturing. Coleman's 16 oz label, quoted by the Bangor Daily News, says: "To discard, contact local refuse hauler or recycling center. Never put in fire or incinerator. Do not puncture." The CrunchIt sheet rules it out too. Coleman once packed a Green Key tool that locked the valve open, so the cylinder could be shown empty without a hole. The paper reports it was dropped because many recycling agencies would not accept it.

So the usual routes are a household hazardous waste site, or a metal recycler that takes them. CleanLA, in Los Angeles County, puts the scale on it. About 40 million single-use 1 lb cylinders are used a year in North America, and handling each one properly costs local governments and parks $10 to $25. StopWaste's advice is to bring your empties home from camping rather than leave them in a campsite bin.

Both CleanLA and StopWaste point to refillable 1 lb cylinders instead. The legal side of that switch is in refilling 1 lb propane cylinders.

A worked case: one canister, three towns#

Take one 230 g isobutane canister at the end of a trip, and walk it through three of the places in the table.

First, the can itself. Suppose it weighs 165 g on a kitchen scale. A 230 g can from a brand with a 150 g empty weight still holds about 15 g, so it is not ready. You run the stove outdoors until the flame dies, then weigh it again at 151 g. That is spent.

In Suffolk. The can is a valve-top type. Suffolk says it goes in the gas bottle cage at a Recycling Centre, and to ask site staff. Nothing on the page asks you to puncture it. It never goes in the rubbish or recycling bin at home.

In Calgary. Same can, different ending. The city says do not puncture, and never put it in a cart. You take it whole to a household hazardous waste fire hall, and it costs nothing.

In Alameda County. StopWaste wants a hole or the valve out, then a recycling yard or scrap metal collector. So you screw a CrunchIt on. If gas keeps hissing for more than a few seconds, you take it off and burn the can again. Once the hiss stops, you pierce it in three or four places and drive it to the scrap yard.

Worked through, the burn step is the same in all three towns, and the bin is wrong in all three. Only the last step changes, which is why the page for your own town is the one to read.

Common mistakes#

Putting it in the recycling bin because it is steel. Suffolk, Alameda County and Calgary all forbid it, and MSR says kerbside schemes rarely recycle canisters even when they collect them.

Puncturing while it still hisses. The CrunchIt sheet says stop if venting goes on for more than a few seconds. That gas is fuel, and you are holding the can.

Using a saw, a drill or anything that sparks. MSR names the saw as the tool not to use.

Puncturing near the stove. The CrunchIt sheet asks for no flame nearby and 3 m to anything that burns. Let the stove cool and move away from it.

Puncturing where the rule says not to. Calgary forbids it, and Suffolk sends valve-top cans whole to a gas cage.

Treating a 1 lb propane cylinder like a canister. Different valve, a "Do not puncture" label, and often a hazardous waste route.

Leaving empties in a campsite bin. StopWaste asks you to bring them home, and the Maine reporting shows why: nobody downstream wants them.

What this answer does not cover#

This page covers screw-on EN 417 canisters and, briefly, 1 lb propane cylinders. It reads the rules of five places and the instructions of two makers. Your own council's page is the rule where you live; if it says something different from this page, it wins. Where your council publishes nothing, phone it or a local metal recycler before you puncture or bin anything. It does not cover refillable propane tanks, butane cassettes for tabletop stoves, liquid fuel bottles or damaged and leaking canisters. A can that leaks from its valve or is dented should go to a household hazardous waste site whole. The puncture step carries real risk of fire. Do it only outdoors, away from flames and sparks, on a can that has stopped venting.

Frequently asked questions#

Can you put empty camping gas canisters in the bin?#

In most places checked, no. Suffolk Recycling, StopWaste in California and Calgary all say never in a home bin, rubbish or recycling. A few councils allow it: Palmerston North in New Zealand says empty canisters can go in the rubbish bag. Unless your own council says so in writing, take the can to a recycling centre, metal recycler or hazardous waste site.

How do you puncture a gas canister safely?#

First burn it empty on the stove, outdoors. Then use a tool such as the Jetboil CrunchIt, or a can opener or screwdriver as MSR suggests, never a saw. With the CrunchIt, stop if gas keeps venting for more than a few seconds and burn the rest. Pierce only once venting stops, in 3 to 4 places, at least 3 m from anything that burns.

Are isobutane canisters recyclable?#

Yes, as mixed metal, where it is accepted. MSR says its canisters are painted steel with plastic valve parts and can be recycled once empty and punctured. Very few kerbside schemes handle them, so MSR suggests a metal recycling centre. You do not need to remove the valve.

Do you have to puncture a gas canister before recycling it?#

It depends on where you take it. Some recyclers, such as AIM Recycling in Bangor, Maine, and the California recyclers StopWaste points to, want a hole as proof the can is empty. Calgary says not to puncture at all, and Suffolk takes whole valve-top cans in its gas bottle cage. Ask the site before you pierce anything.

How do I know a gas canister is empty?#

Run it on the stove with the valve fully open until the flame dies, then leave it open a while longer. Then weigh it. A 230 g can weighs about 144 to 160 g empty, depending on brand, and a 100 g can about 100 g. If it weighs well over that, it still holds fuel, or it is too cold to feed the stove.

Can I use a CrunchIt on a 1 lb propane cylinder?#

No. Jetboil's instruction sheet says the CrunchIt is for EN 417 threaded canisters only and is not compatible with 1 lb propane cylinders. Coleman's 1 lb cylinder label also says "Do not puncture". Take 1 lb cylinders to household hazardous waste or a recycler that accepts them.

Why won't my recycling centre take gas canisters?#

Because a can that still holds gas can explode when it is crushed or heated. Suffolk says canisters hold up to three times the pressure of a deodorant can. In 2020, a binned propane canister exploded at a Maine waste plant and injured a worker. Many sites will only take cans that are punctured, or only at a hazardous waste drop-off.