Waste collectors see 50% rise in used laughing gas cylinders

Despite a ban on the sale of nitrous oxide - or laughing gas - in Belgium, the number of recovered nitrous oxide cylinders in the Brussels region is increasing significantly, according to the latest figures from the capital’s waste management service Bruxelles-Propreté.

Laughing gas sales were forbidden follow a December 2023 ban on its import, export, sale, storage and possession.

However, in 2024, some 75 tonnes of nitrous oxide waste were collected, an increase of 50% compared to 2023.

This means that despite the measures taken to curb laughing gas cylinder buying, notably the ban on "improper use", the problems are not going away.

The increased waste is mainly due to the rise in people buying the cans, used often for whipped cream, to get high. But more containers are also collected due to the improved pre-sorting of cylinder waste that arrives at the incinerators.

More empty nitrous oxide cylinders are being found in known high-risk [drug-using] hotspots, such as Josaphat Park and Place Liedts in Schaerbeek, Anneessens and Brussels-Midi station.

But Bruxelles-Propreté has also found many nitrous oxide cylinders in more affluent communes, meaning the problem is not only getting bigger, it is also spreading.

The Bruxelles-Propreté figures underestimate the problem, as the municipalities, the Brussels-Capital region and public transport company Stib also collect and dispose of nitrous oxide cylinders. All in all, last year up to 150 tonnes of nitrous oxide cylinders were collected.

Bruxelles-Propreté recovered 5.26 tonnes of nitrous oxide cylinders from its recycling parks in 2024, more than double the two tonnes found in 2023. In addition, nearly six times more nitrous oxide cylinders were found in and near the region’s general waste bins – a substantial 12.4 tonnes, compared to 2.6 tonnes in 2023.

The share of nitrous oxide cylinders in fly-tipping is also rising, from 41.6 tonnes in 2023 to 53 tonnes in 2024.

Photo: Xofc/Wikimedia. Licensed under Creative Commons