Carnival clean up collects 13 tonnes of Laughing Gas canisters

How many canisters were collected?

Waste crews carrying out the clean-up from Notting Hill Carnival estimate collecting 13 tonnes of laughing gas canisters from the streets.

Crews expect to have collected five skips full – with an estimate of more than 12,000 canisters.

Why do gas canisters get collected separately?

Nitrous Oxide canisters must be collected separately to other waste as there is a risk they could explode if compacted. This slows down the operation, which is already one of the biggest street clean ups in Europe.

How long does the clean up take?

Waste crews were prepared after last years unprecedented numbers. Over Sunday and Monday nights, crews collected an estimated over 300 tonnes of waste – equivalent to 25 London buses – from the streets so most areas were back to normal by Tuesday.

Jet washing and clear up will continue into Friday.

Kensington and Chelsea Council’s Lead Member for Culture, Leisure and Community Safety, Cllr Emma Will said:

“Carnival mirrors the vibrant mix of cultures in our community. However, we're also keen on getting things back to regular swiftly and smoothly for our residents. A big thank you to the dedicated SUEZ waste collection teams and everyone else who puts in the effort to achieve this. The team of over 200 crew members faced a considerable challenge due to the number of canisters, which significantly slow the clean-up operation down. The teams did a remarkable job in cleaning up our streets.” 

Gary O’Hagan, SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK Contract General Manager said: 

“SUEZ has been handling the Carnival clean-up for the Council for a number of years now. We have a robust plan in place which we've used over the years to ensure the clean-up runs efficiently and smoothly, getting the streets back to normal as quickly as possible for the local residents.

"Our crews came across a number of large nitrous oxide canisters this year, these canisters have to be separated by hand from the rest of the waste as they’re a health and safety concern. By the time Friday rolls around, it looks like we'll have filled up about five skip containers with thousands of these canisters.

"Special thanks to my crews for tackling this new challenge head-on and getting the streets back to normal so quickly. I’m immensely proud of their hard work and dedication.”

Cllr Cem Kemahli, Lead Member for Planning, Place and Environment added:

“We’ve certainly seen more graffiti than usual and to help tackle this, we have deployed a dedicated cleaning teams to remove it. The Council’s graffiti team has been quadrupled since last year as we have listened to residents’ concerns about this."