The Environmental Services Association has urged the Home Secretary to ban the retail sale of nitrous oxide cannisters.
The Environmental Services Association (ESA) says its members have recorded an increase in the number of medium-sized pressurised nitrous oxide cylinders discarded with other waste and recycling.
Despite being classified as a Class C drug in 2023, the ESA says it has recorded an increase in larger nitrous oxide cylinders being disposed of with waste.
The ESA has also seen an increase in recreational users disposing of ‘intermediate-sized’ pressurised cylinders, which it claims have no legitimate consumer use, yet are readily accessed online.
Described by the ESA as ‘ticking time bombs’, nitrous oxide cannisters can explode if damaged or exposed to heat, such as in Energy-from-Waste (EfW) facilities.
Around 60 EfW plants are operational in the UK and together they treat of thousands of tonnes of Britain’s rubbish each week, mostly on behalf of local authorities, by combusting it as a fuel to generate energy.
There’s a simple solution: Ban them for all but legitimate and specialist use.
Data provided by EfW operators show that individual EfW plants can suffer up to six significant nitrous oxide cylinder explosions every day.
As well as placing staff at risk, there have been cases of the resulting damage exceeding £2 million from a single incident.
Earlier this year, Veolia revealed nitrous oxide cannisters had caused over £4.7 million in damage to its UK EfW facilities since 2023.
The ESA is now calling on UK Government to follow the lead of the European Union (EU) by introducing a ban on the sale of intermediate size nitrous oxide cylinders on the UK retail market.
The call is made alongside the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM); National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO), and the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT).
Commenting on the letter, Dan Cooke, Director of Policy, Communications and External Affairs at CIWM, said: “The evidence of the damage to infrastructure and the risk to recycling and waste professionals’ safety from nitrous oxide cylinders in the waste stream is clear, as is the case for government to act.”
“There’s a simple solution: Ban them for all but legitimate and specialist use. Protect our workers and our vital infrastructure.”
