Cartridges and bottles of laughing gas, which is used as a party drug, cause problems in French waste incineration plants. Again and again there are explosions in the incinerators because not completely emptied containers are carelessly disposed of with the household waste, reported the newspaper “Le Parisien”.
Paris – For the repairs, the ovens would have to be shut down, said several operators of waste incineration plants. Such an operational shutdown alone costs 50,000 euros; the systems are normally only taken out of service once a year for maintenance lasting several weeks.
Laughing gas has been abused as a party drug for years, the effect only lasts for a short time, but the health risks are enormous. Chronic consumption can lead to nerve damage and degeneration of the spinal cord, neurologists warn. Especially during the Corona lockdown, the consumption of nitrous oxide in France apparently increased, the waste incinerators concluded from the accumulated problems with empty bottles in the incinerators during this time. Dozens of bottles were also discovered in the mountains of rubbish. Aside from the health risks, the waste incinerators appealed to dispose of the nitrous oxide containers adequately.
As a spokesman for the Association of Municipal Enterprises (VKU) said in Berlin, balloon gas and party gas are increasingly being disposed of in household waste in Germany and are finding their way into the ovens of waste incineration plants. In the worst case, large canisters in particular could lead to damage to the systems or even smaller explosions and possibly endanger the personnel. The association spokesman called for appropriate gas bottles to be disposed of via the yellow sack, the yellow bin or the municipal recycling centers. A deposit on such containers would therefore also be helpful. dpa
