A Pennsylvania pilot project is testing a new way to safely recover propane and steel from disposable propane cylinders, a material that can create safety and processing challenges for recyclers.
The Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center, Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority and Industrial Propane Services collaborated on a portable propane extraction and steel recovery system that processed approximately 22,000 cylinders during the pilot, according to the Recycling Markets Center.
The system is designed to remove and capture propane remaining inside cylinders before crushing and preparing the steel for recycling. The Recycling Markets Center said the resulting steel can then be sent to mills as a scrap commodity, while the recovered propane can be put to beneficial reuse.
Propane cylinders have long presented challenges for recycling facilities because containers that appear empty can still contain residual gas and pressure. If cylinders enter traditional recycling or waste streams, they can pose fire and explosion risks when compacted in collection vehicles or processed at materials recovery facilities.
Americans purchase an estimated 40 million to 60 million disposable one pound propane cylinders each year, according to the Recycling Markets Center. The organization estimates about 75% eventually enter trash or recycling containers, landfills or become litter.
Safely handling the cylinders can also be expensive for municipalities. Traditional processing can cost between $10 and $25 per cylinder for transportation, depressurization, puncturing and preparation for scrap metal recycling, according to the Recycling Markets Center.
The new system is intended to address both the safety and economic challenges by bringing propane extraction and steel processing capabilities directly to locations where cylinders are collected.
The Recycling Markets Center and Industrial Propane Services developed the mobile system, with Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority serving as the site for the pilot. Funding from Pennsylvania’s recycling fund, administered by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, helped offset project costs.
The Recycling Markets Center describes the equipment as the first portable, commercial scale and publicly available propane recovery system of its kind in the United States.
The project also recently received the Recycling Markets Center’s annual William M. Heenan Jr. Markets Development Award. The organization jointly presented the award to Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority and Industrial Propane Services for their work on the pilot.
Beyond reducing the immediate safety risks associated with propane cylinders, the project is intended to create a recycling market for the material by recovering both the remaining fuel and steel.
The pilot could also provide a model for expanding propane cylinder recovery elsewhere in Pennsylvania. Project organizers said the portable design could allow the equipment to serve multiple locations rather than requiring municipalities to develop their own permanent processing infrastructure.
The project comes as recycling facilities continue to look for ways to safely manage materials that contain compressed gases and can pose risks when they enter conventional recycling streams. The results from the Centre County pilot could help determine whether mobile processing provides a scalable option for recovering those cylinders while keeping their steel and residual propane in productive use.
