COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
Monday, September 08, 2025
QUESTION NO. 10
QUESTION: Councillor N. Fennell
To ask SDCC for a report of the prevalence of dumping of nitrous oxide cannisters, the locations advice to the public on how to dispose of them correctly and the cost to the council in disposing of nitrous oxide cannisters
REPLY:
The matter of discarded Nitrous Oxide cannisters and 'silver bullets' was first raised under motion 9 of the agenda of the July 2021 County Council meeting. A commitment was given to gather information from customer complaints, representations and information passed on by staff and to map the results of the information gathered. This exercise commenced in August 2021 and the undertaking given was to carry out the exercise over a 12 month period, with it being completed in August 2022. The results of the exercise were presented to the October 2022 meeting of the County Council in response to question 13 on the agenda. The situation has not changed in recent years with 'silver bullets' and larger cannisters of Nitrous Oxide still being found in large numbers around the county, in recreational areas where the substance is being used and also on roadsides where the cannisters are being discarded. The availability of the substance to purchase on line has not changed since then either with it being easily available to purchase for legitimate uses such as in catering and dentistry however there is currently no means by which it's purchase for other purposes can be prevented. There has been some recent progress in this regard however with the Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025 having been presented to the Dail on 30 April 2025, the bill is now at stage 2 before the Dail.
The use of nitrous oxide is occurring for the most part in public parks, but also in public open spaces and on public roads and streets. The finds of dumped/used cannisters continue to be recorded however these appear to be random in nature, with finds being recorded in parks where the substance is being used but also being recorded in locations on public roads where it would appear that they are being dumped after use. The small 'silver bullet' cannisters are being found in large numbers, and finds of larger cannisters would now appear to be more prevalent. As previously reported the sale, purchase, possession and use of this substance is not currently illegal so it would appear that there is little by way of enforcement action open to the authorities in this regard. The Council will continue to play any role it can in combatting this problem however it is for other agencies to promote the message that the use of this substance for recreational purposes is potentially damaging to a persons health and in some instances has proven to be fatal.
The finds indicate use of these cannisters at some of the locations, while in other cases they appear to have been dumped in large quantities at the location of the find. The finds of larger cannisters of the substance appear to be more frequent now with each of these estimated to be equivalent to approximately 50 'silver bullets'. It has not been possible to quantify the number of small cannisters found as on occasions they have been found to number in the hundreds at a location. The data gathered to date shows that nitrous oxide use is occuring across the county however it cannot be used to determine how widespread this use is. It should be noted that use of this substance is currently not illegal and anecdotal evidence suggests that the cannisters can be easily purchased on-line.
The recommended way to dispose of Nitrous Oxide Cannisters is at the nearest recycling centre such as Ballymount Civic Amenity Centre. If members of the public disposing of these cannisters at Ballymount are uncertain whether the canisters are empty, they should be left in the cages designated for gas bottles. If it is known that they are fully empty, they may be deposited directly into the metal recycling stream area. For those unable to use their nearest recycling centre, the website for Ireland’s official guide to managing your waste at www.mywaste.ie states that it is acceptable to place such containers in the household general waste bin. These are then extracted during the waste treatment process and recycled as metal. As these items are not managed as a separate waste stream it is not possible for the Council to determine the cost to collect and dispose of them at this time.