‘When I see a yellow spot out of the corner of my eye, I immediately turn on,’ says cleaning staff member Aldo van Eijk. Together with his colleagues, he collects wandering yellow-blue and black laughing gas cylinders from the streets throughout the city. About 800 pieces per week.
Hazardous waste, such as laughing gas cylinders, is collected separately. Aldo leaves the other waste behind, which will be cleaned up later. Photo: Municipality of Rotterdam
Laughing gas must be collected separately from regular residual waste. ‘There may be residual gases in them,’ Aldo explains. ‘That is dangerous if the cylinders come near fire or if they are crushed and explode. So people should not take them themselves or throw them in the container. What you should do? Take a photo and report it via the MeldR app or phone number 14010.’
Three vans every day
This Thursday morning there are 113 reports. Aldo is one of the drivers of the special laughing gas cylinder cleanup vans. They drive around the city with 3 vans 5 days a week to collect the cylinders. ‘No fixed route, we drive based on the reports that come in,’ he says. ‘The area with the most reports gets priority.’
Today, that is the center. Aldo drives to Boomgaardhof, a street and parking lot behind shops and businesses. It is quite a mess, with litter, cardboard boxes, and yes, also a few laughing gas cylinders.
Laughing gas as a drug
Traditionally, laughing gas is used as a short-term anesthetic in healthcare and as a gas cartridge in whipped cream dispensers, for example. But people also use it as a drug. It gives a similar effect to alcohol: lightheaded, giggly, a drunken feeling. There are also negative side effects, such as confusion, dizziness, or nausea, or even losing consciousness. Your lips and lungs can freeze. Participating in traffic is dangerous because your reaction speed decreases.
Users in quiet spots
That is why it has been illegal to use, possess, produce, or transport laughing gas as a drug since 2023. Still, there is still a group that uses it, especially young people between 18 and 25 years old. Aldo now knows the spots where they usually hang out. ‘Especially in quiet places and back roads. Recently, I found someone sleeping with the laughing gas cylinder clutched in their arms. Sad, really.’
Cleaning up costs money
Since the criminalization, waste has also become a problem. The used cylinders are scattered throughout the city. For the municipality, it was a challenge to find the best way to clean up that waste. ‘By now, we have the entire process of collecting and processing quite well organized, with a processing time of about 5 working days,’ says area coordinator Jiyan Canpolat. ‘We work with a contractor who safely processes the cylinders.’ That does cost money: in 2024, it was over 1.3 million euros for disposal and processing.
Many reports
Rotterdammers are fortunately good at finding the MeldR app. ‘Every week we have about 500 to 600 reports. That’s about 800 cylinders,’ Aldo says. ‘We can transport a maximum of 50 at a time. Areas like the Center and Kralingen-Crooswijk stand out. Especially on Mondays after the weekend, there are many reports, sometimes up to 300 throughout Rotterdam.’
In special tubes
At Boomgaardhof, Aldo picks up the cylinders and deposits them behind his truck, in special tubes to keep them upright. He leaves the rest of the waste behind. ‘People are sometimes outraged when they see that we don’t take that with us,’ he says. ‘Then we explain that it is hazardous waste that needs to be collected separately. But I completely understand that it raises questions.’
Aldo is always on the lookout for laughing gas cylinders on the street. ‘Even when I’m driving my car privately and I see a yellow spot in my peripheral vision, I immediately turn on,’ he laughs.
For more information about the effects of laughing gas. Link opens an external page.