Slough Borough Council has issued an ‘urgent reminder’ against putting ‘dangerous’ gas canisters in your household waste bins.
This comes after more than 20 gas canisters have been found in household or communal waste bins in recent weeks.
When bins are collected, the canisters can cause an explosion if crushed in the bin lorry machinery, as they contain nitrous oxide or helium gas.
The council has said it is ‘disappointing’ to have to issue this reminder following an incident on 14 May, when a canister nearly hit a refuse worker in Cippenham.
Shocking CCTV footage shows it flying through the air at speed, with it only narrowly avoiding it refuse workers.
But the council has had to issue a further warning today (2 July) as it has found 24 gas cannisters in recent weeks.
These include 12 metal nitrous oxide canisters found in a communal bin, six found in another household bin, and five found in a grey wheelie bin. They are often used for gas barbecue or for blowing up balloons.
Matthew Hopper, the council’s director of environment and highways said it was ‘disappointing to see people still putting them in their bin’ after the incident in May.
He reminded residents that they can be disposed of for free at Chalvey Household Waste and Recycling Centre, in Slough.
He said: “If they are put into a normal bin and into our rubbish compactor, they can represent a serious hazard to our waste collection team and cause damage to machinery.
Gas canisters contain highly flammable materials, with the gas they contain being highly pressurised. Tom Conway, one of the men who was part of the refuse collectors who narrowly avoided the airborne canister, previously told the Observer that ‘someone could be dead’ following the incident.
Recounting his experience, he said: “It came out at speed and Ray shouted for me to duck. If it weren’t for Ray, it more than likely would have hit me.”
Following discoveries of more wrongfully disposed cannisters, Matthew Hopper said: He added: “We need residents to be responsible with how they dispose of them and not put our team’s lives at risk.
“We are putting the safety of our operatives first and we ask residents to do the same.”
Slough has three different coloured bins – grey, red and green. General rubbish goes into grey, recycling into red, and garden waste in green.
Bins containing canisters will not be collected in efforts to combat further breaches of waste policy.
