Prince George, B.C. – Don’t forget to properly dispose of your gas canisters.

That’s the message from Multi-Material BC as summer draws to a close and many British Columbians have empty or partially-used gas canisters left over from camping trips and barbecues.

“We just want to remind people that gas canisters don’t belong in their blue box,” says managing director Allen Langdon. “We’re finding more and more of these containers in the blue box and they really represent a significant safety risk to our workers both in collection as well as at the processing facilities.”

He says the most common types are reusable tanks and disposable propane canisters. Other examples include butane cartridges, helium balloon tanks and oxygen tanks used for some health.

“So we’re really asking people to remember that they should take their tanks to an appropriate depot and if they’re not sure where to go they can always use the Recycling Council of B.C.’s website where the Recyclepedia app can help them to find out where to take their containers.”

Langdon says it’s becoming more of a problem and has led to at least one fire at one of their facilities in the Lower Mainland.

He says there are currently no fines for people who fail to dispose of their canisters properly.

“I think we really just want to educate the public first. I think people are trying to do the right thing, they’re trying to get these things recycled,” says Langdon.

“We haven’t communicated publicly about this but we felt we’re seeing enough of them and it’s an important issue that we want people to take these to the appropriate depot.”