Council staff could have been killed after a butane cylinder was dumped in a blue wheelie bin in Perth and Kinross.
The 13kg canister was loaded onto a bin lorry by Perth and Kinross Council refuse staff.
Fortunately, it was not crushed in the compactor and passed through the bin lorry intact.
The find came just a week after an old shell casing was thrown in a recycling skip.
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The canister was taken to a waste recycling centre where it was spotted by a loading shovel operator, mixed in with 150 tonnes of blue bin recycling material, on Wednesday last week.
The council says that, had the cylinder been crushed in the lorry compactor or by the loading shovel, the resulting explosion could have endangered the lives of staff, damaged the vehicle or caused a fire.
It is unclear where in the region it had been binned.
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The shell casing incident saw the item was dumped in the metal recycling skip at a Perth and Kinross Council household waste recycling centre.
It was later discovered at the reprocessing centre in Inverkeithing. The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team was then called to check the device was not live.
Mark Butterworth, Perth and Kinross Council’s head of environmental and consumer services, said: “We’re pleased to see householders making good use of their recycling bins, but some items can be extremely dangerous if disposed of incorrectly.
“In this incident, the canister was dumped in a blue wheelie bin and was not seen when it was loaded onto the bin lorry. It’s only by chance it was not crushed, which could have had serious consequences for our staff.
“Gas canisters of any size, whether blow torch cans or big cylinders, should not be put in wheelie bins.
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“There will be information on the cylinder about how they should be disposed of properly and we ask everyone to follow these instructions, even if they think the cylinder is completely empty. The risk is too great.
“Some canisters, such as helium for filling balloons, will show you how to fully empty all gas. These fully empty canisters can then be disposed of at your nearest Recycling Centre, but please allow the site attendants to check before placing in the metals skip.”
“If your canister does not have information on disposal on it, you can either contact the manufacturer or a specialist contractor. Information on contractors can be found at www.pkc.gov.uk/whatcanberecycled.”
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Perth City Centre councillor Pete Barrett slammed those who had put the cylinder in the bin.
He said: “No-one with any sense puts a pressurised gas cylinder into their bins. That shows a complete and utter disregard for the safety of our bin men and women.
“I’ve had experience of the bomb disposal squad detonating a badly corroded and unstable gas cylinder at the bottom of my street in a controlled explosion.
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“That caused a hell of a bang and I fear for what the consequences could have been if staff had not been so alert as to spot the cylinder amongst the rubbish.”
