First Company to Recycle Acetone-Contaminated Acetylene Cylinders
A Massachusetts-based environmental company breaks new ground with a safer, compliant solution for spent acetylene tanks — including pre-1985 asbestos-core cylinders.
Cylinder Recyclers became the first company in the nation to offer recycling for spent acetylene gas cylinders — including older pre-1985 cylinders that contain asbestos. The process safely removes residual acetone and, where present, asbestos-contaminated core material, allowing the steel shell to be scrapped and recycled rather than stored on-site or sent to a landfill.
Massachusetts-based Cylinder Recyclers today announced that, for the first time, consumers and distributors of acetylene have a way to recycle spent steel acetylene gas cylinders produced both before and after 1985. Acetylene gas cylinders are commonly used for applications such as acetylene torches for welding and cutting.
Unlike other compressed gas containers, acetylene tanks contain as much as six gallons of acetone in a solid binding medium contained within the cylinder. Cylinders produced before 1985 also contain asbestos within the solid core. In the past, the only choice for acetylene consumers and distributors was to store spent tanks in piles on-site or send them to landfills—acetone and all. Both approaches created health, safety, and environmental concerns as well as liability issues that can now be resolved via recycling.
With the new process, consumers have a safer and more sustainable alternative. Acetylene containers of any age can now be handled for recycling using Cylinder Recyclers' environmentally friendly process. For asbestos-free cylinders, the residual acetone is removed from the tank's core and recovered for recycling, as is the metal shell. For pre-1985 cylinders, the asbestos-contaminated core is also safely removed to a licensed subtitle D landfill, and the steel shell is then scrapped and recycled.
Cylinder Recyclers is the only company in the nation offering this kind of recycling and now serves some of the nation's most prominent gas distribution companies.
Cylinder Recyclers offers cylinder pick-up services nationwide and handles the entire recycling process for its customers, including documentation and tracking for compliance purposes.
Why Acetylene Cylinders Are Different
Most compressed gas cylinders are relatively straightforward to recycle — the cylinder is depressurized, inspected, and the metal is reclaimed. Acetylene cylinders are a different story. Inside each tank is a porous solid medium saturated with up to six gallons of liquid acetone, used to stabilize the acetylene gas under pressure. That acetone does not simply evaporate when the cylinder is spent — it remains inside the core.
For cylinders manufactured before 1985, there is an additional complication: the porous core material contains asbestos. This means that simply crushing or scrapping these older cylinders could release asbestos fibers, posing serious health and environmental risks. Until Cylinder Recyclers developed its process, these cylinders had no compliant end-of-life pathway other than indefinite storage or illegal disposal.
In the past, the only choice for acetylene consumers and distributors was to store spent tanks in piles on-site or send them to landfills — acetone and all.
How the Recycling Process Works
Cylinder Recyclers' proprietary process addresses both the acetone and asbestos challenges through a staged, compliant approach:
- Post-1985 cylinders: Residual acetone is extracted from the core and recovered for recycling. The steel shell is then scrapped and recycled.
- Pre-1985 cylinders: The asbestos-contaminated core is carefully removed to a licensed Subtitle D landfill. The steel shell is then cleaned and scrapped for recycling.
- Documentation and compliance: Full documentation and tracking is provided throughout the process, supporting customers' environmental compliance obligations.
Improper disposal of acetylene cylinders — particularly pre-1985 asbestos-core models — can expose businesses to significant environmental liability. Cylinder Recyclers' documented process provides a compliant, defensible disposal record for your facility.
Nationwide Service for Gas Distributors and Consumers
Cylinder Recyclers serves some of the nation's most prominent gas distribution companies and offers pick-up services nationwide. The company handles the entire process end-to-end — from logistics and transport to processing, documentation, and compliance reporting.
About Cylinder Recyclers
Cylinder Recyclers helps clients across the nation reduce risk, avoid liability, and maintain sound environmental practices by responsibly recycling compressed gas cylinders of every size, shape, and substance. The company is only resource in the nation for recycling spent acetylene cylinders. Visit https://www.cylinderrecyclers.com for more information.