Industrial Propane Service wins award for propane cylinder recycling

August 4, 2026 By Sydney Fischer 0 Comments

Representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority (CCRRA), Industrial Propane Service (IPS) and the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center (RMC) gathered to mark a major advance in environmental safety and materials recovery.

RMC presented its annual William M. Heenan Jr. Markets Development Award jointly to CCRRA and IPS for their work on a pilot program to create a statewide recycling market for safely emptied propane cylinders. The effort used a portable propane extraction and steel recovery unit described as the first of its kind, according to IPS.

During the pilot, and under RMC’s leadership, the CCRRA safely emptied and prepared about 22,000 cylinders for mill-ready applications.

The project addresses a longstanding disposal problem. Each year, Americans buy an estimated 40 million to 60 million disposable 1-pound propane cylinders for camping, tailgating and outdoor cooking, but roughly 75 percent are discarded in trash bins, recycling carts, landfills or as litter. When compressed in garbage trucks or processed at recycling facilities, cylinders that appear empty can still contain residual gas and pressure, creating fire and explosion risks.

Historically, safely handling each cylinder has also been costly for local governments, with manual processing running an estimated $10 to $25 per cylinder, according to RMC.

(Source: Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center)

To address the issue, RMC and IPS developed a mobile propane extraction and steel recovery unit that captures leftover propane for reuse while crushing and cleaning the cylinders for scrap metal recycling. The PA DEP supported the project, which officials say is the first portable, commercial-scale, publicly available recovery system of its kind in the United States, says RMC.

“When we set out to build this system, our goal was to engineer a solution that addressed both safety and efficiency,” Jeff Vandemark, president of IPS, says. “The portable propane extraction steel recovery unit uses advanced closed-loop technology to depressurize and evacuate cylinders completely, capturing the propane and converting steel cylinders into safe, high-quality steel scrap. Being recognized alongside CCRRA with the prestigious Heenan Award is a tremendous honor for our entire team.”

Officials say the pilot demonstrates a model that could be expanded across Pennsylvania, reducing costs for municipalities. Funding from the state’s recycling fund, administered by the Pennsylvania DEP, helped offset project costs.

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