A tank is not a bag of trash
Grill cylinders, camp cylinders, and larger tanks are pressure vessels. Many disposal floors will not take them with household junk, and a rental box is a poor place to discover that. Call before you load. Ask the cylinder exchange or the household hazardous waste program how your area wants cylinders turned in, and ask the disposal site if you hoped to bring one with the furniture. Do not assume a yes for empty paint cans covers a tank. Transport cylinders upright, with the valve closed and the cap or collar in place if they have one. Strap them so they cannot fall over. Do not toss a cylinder on its side under bags. One hidden tank can turn the whole load around.
If you find one at the bottom
Stop when you see it. Do not kick a cylinder onto the trash floor, and do not leave it in the stall because you are blocking the lane. Ask the attendant where that item goes. If the site cannot take it, it leaves with you, upright and strapped, until you reach a program that accepts it. Do not vent the tank to empty it, and do not burn residual gas. The cab is part of the rental too. A cylinder in the footwell is still your problem at the return. Check under the seats before you call the truck empty. Photograph the empty box only after the tank is out and headed to the right place, not after you buried it again.
Keep it out of the rental day
The night before, walk the garage, the deck, and the camper closet for cylinders. Stage them apart from the furniture. A rental day is for legal debris the site agreed to see. It is not the day to decide what a rusty valve means. If you cannot close a valve or you smell propane and cannot make the cylinder stable, leave it in a safe outdoor spot and ask the fire department or the program your town names what to do. Do not put a leaking cylinder in a closed box to get it off the property. Heat in a cargo area makes a bad valve worse. The same sorting pass should pull gasoline, solvents, and pool chemicals for hazardous waste.
Before you go
- Ask where cylinders are accepted before you put one in the truck.
- Haul them upright, valve closed, and strapped, never hidden under bags.
- If you find one while unloading, stop and ask the attendant.
- Do not vent or burn residual gas to make a tank look empty.
Burying a propane cylinder under trash bags so the load looks ordinary.
Questions people ask
Is an empty grill tank ordinary metal?
Not until the program that accepts cylinders says so. Empty to you may still mean residual pressure to them. Do not cut the valve off to force it into scrap. Take it upright to the exchange or the site they name. Ask. Do not put it on the trash floor.
Can the tank ride in the cab?
The cab is still the rental, and a cylinder there is still a cylinder. Prefer the transport method the exchange or the site described, upright and secured. Check the footwell at the return so you do not leave one for the next driver. A closed valve does not make it trash.
Search Dumpmapper by ZIP code or city, then call the site before you load the truck. Hours and accepted materials change.