what is the proper and legal way to dispose of refrigerant tanks?

Answer 1

Dispose of the contents in a legal manner. If the gases need to be captured, get a licensed recylcer to do so. If it is a non regulated gas such as CO2 or Nitrogen, and you are not a commercial facility, then off gas it to atmospheric pressure.

Remove the valve from the cylinder and then cut the tank for recycling.

Answer 2

legality varies from one place to another but the first step would be to see if there is a special disposal facility nearby where you live so that the tank may be professionally disposed of. many middle- to larger towns and cities have these locations and a call to you local garbage hauling or city government might help.

if not, you might want to try contact the company who made the tank. a lot of times there will be a phone number or web address on the tank since the company may be somewhat liable for improper disposal if they don't provide this sort of advice.

finally, if neither of these works, you will need to encapsulate the tank with whatever leftover refrigerant still in the tank. you can do this by placing the tank in multiple layers of cardboard and or plastic, taping it up as leak-free as you can and burying the tank several feet deep away from any water sources. not a great way to deal, but better than bleeding the leftover gas into the atmosphere and tossing the tank into the woods or a lake!

Answer 3

It is not uncommon to have a company that will recapture the refrigerant to use it again elsewhere. Your local waste management firm (that is, the trash company) should have someone in the office that can give you at least one legal way of disposing it. If you are near any sort of town or city of size you might find refrigerant or something similar in the phone book and they might either dispose of it or know where they get their used stuff from such that you can send it on.
Glad you're doing the right thing and not letting it escape to the air or burying it. Thanks.

Answer 4

Where I live I have to go get a sticker for fifteen dollars and they pick it up and dispose of it properly. You could ask you sanitation department. It varies.