Recycle Right: Safety Edition

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Many things just don’t belong in the blue bin.

Not only are they not blue bin recyclable, but they can cause serious safety risks for your collector, staff and equipment at the recycling facility.

There have been several major fires at the recycling sorting facility this year because of people putting dangerous items in their blue carts that they shouldn’t. Doing this endangers lives and forces the temporary closure of the facility. Think before you put something that is potentially explosive and deadly into a recycling bin.

Keep these types of items out of the blue bin:

BATTERIES are the #1 cause of fires at the recycling facility. This includes batteries from laptops, cameras and AA batteries. They are filled with chemicals that when crushed or when they get wet, can easily catch fire.

Recycle batteries the right way: Take your old batteries to a participating retailer for safe recycling – find a list of locations at call2recycle.ca/locator.

PROPANE, BUTANE AND HELIUM TANKS cause explosions, fires and jam up the equipment.

Dispose of propane, butane and helium tanks the right way: Take your old tanks (full or empty) to a City household hazardous waste drop-off near you – find a list of locations at calgary.ca/hhw.

JERRY CANS contain residual fuel, even if they are empty. Even just the fumes can result in an explosion or fire.

Dispose of Jerry cans the right way: Take your old jerry cans (full or empty) to a City household hazardous waste drop-off near you – find a list of locations at calgary.ca/hhw.