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Representatives from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority (CCRRA), Industrial Propane Services, Inc. (IPS), and the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center (RMC) gathered to celebrate an extraordinary leap forward in environmental safety and materials recovery. RMC has officially presented the prestigious annual William M. Heenan, Jr. Markets Development Award jointly to CCRRA and IPS for their collaborative effort in collaborating a pilot of a revolutionary state-wide recycling market for safely emptied propane cylinders, utilizing a first-of-its-kind portable propane extraction and steel recovery unit. In all, under Recycling Markets Center leadership, during the pilot evaluation, the Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority safely emptied and rendered for mill ready applications approximately 22,000 cylinders.

Every year, Americans purchase between 40 and 60 million disposable one-pound propane cylinders for camping, tailgating, and residential outdoor cooking. Unfortunately, an estimated 75% of these single-use cylinders end up in traditional trash bins, recycling carts, landfills, or as litter. When compacted in traditional sanitation trucks or processed at Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs), “empty” cylinders—which frequently retain residual gas and pressure—present highly volatile conditions, causing severe risks of explosions and fires that endanger lives and destroy infrastructure. Processing them manually has historically been an economic burden for local governments, costing between $10 to $25 per cylinder to safely transport, depressurize, puncture, and prepare for scrap metal recycling.

To solve this crisis, RMC and equipment vendor IPS engineered a mobile, high-efficiency propane extraction steel recovery unit. This groundbreaking system evacuates and captures the unused propane for future beneficial reuse while safely crushing and cleaning the steel cylinders into a premium, mill-ready scrap commodity. Supported and recognized by the PA DEP, this system is lauded as the first portable commercial-scale, publicly available recovery system of its kind in the United States.

The success of the portable unit has already established a highly scalable paradigm that can be used across the Commonwealth, drastically reducing the high fiscal demands traditionally placed on municipal waste budgets. Funds provided through the Pennsylvania recycling fund managed by the PA DEP were used to offset costs of the project for the betterment of the Commonwealth.

“This initiative exemplifies the exact spirit of the William M. Heenan, Jr. Markets Development Award. By coupling cutting-edge mechanical engineering from IPS and RMC with the operational leadership of CCRRA, they have transformed a hazard containing, high-cost waste concern into a safe, sustainable, circular economy. This is a victory for Pennsylvania’s recycling supply chain, protecting workers and turning scrap steel back into a valuable regional manufacturing resource,” Robert J. Bylone, Jr., CEO & President of the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center (RMC).

“The unique safety hazards associated with small-scale propane cylinders have challenged our solid waste and recycling workers for decades. This partnership has delivered a practical and barrier-breaking solution. The Department of Environmental Protection is proud to recognize this achievement, which aligns perfectly with our mission to eliminate hazardous materials from waste streams, protect public health, and encourage innovative environmental stewardship,” commented Ali Tarquino Morris, PA DEP Deputy Secretary for 91TV, Air, Radiation and Remediation.

“When we set out to build this system, our goal was to engineer a solution that addressed both safety and efficiency. 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,” stated Jeff Vandemark, President of Industrial Propane Services, Inc. (IPS).

“We are honored to be recognized by the Pennsylvania Recycling Markets Center for our role in advancing an innovative solution for recycling one-pound propane cylinders commonly used with camping, tailgating and other outdoor activities. This project demonstrates what can be accomplished through collaboration and a shared commitment to environmental stewardship. We are grateful for this recognition and proud to partner with the RMC and Industrial Propane Services, Inc., on an initiative that advances resource recovery, improves safety, and keeps valuable materials from disposal,” says Jason Neidig, Executive Director of Centre County Recycling and Refuse Authority (CCRRA).

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