By the end of the week, according to garbage collectors, five tonnes of enormous “hippy crack” gas canisters that were dumped around west London following Notting Hill Carnival will be removed.
Following the two-day street celebration, almost 3.5 tonnes of the potentially dangerous nitrous oxide cylinders have already been removed, slowing down a massive cleanup effort to move 300 tonnes of leftover trash from the weekend.
By Friday, workers expect to fill four complete skips, each holding about 1,000 canisters, with the nitrous oxide bottles.
Nitrous oxide canisters, sometimes referred to as laughing gas and used by partygoers to get a rapid high, must be collected separately from other debris since they may be dangerous and can explode if crushed with other types of garbage.
Kensington and Chelsea Council said 3.5 tonnes of laughing gas canisters had been collected by waste crews, filling four entire skips (pictured), but they expected this to reach five tonnes by the end of the week
The giant canisters of nitrous oxide (pictured) littered the streets of Notting Hill following the two-day carnival which took place over the Bank Holiday weekend
The canisters have significantly slowed the colossal clear-up operation, which is already one of the biggest street clean ups in Europe, following the first carnival in three years due to the pandemic.
Waste crews described the unprecedented volume of canisters as ‘mind-blowing’ and will need to factor it into planning for next year’s party.
Over Sunday and Monday nights, crews collected an estimated 300 tonnes of waste – equivalent to 25 London buses.
Some 200 cleaners and 30 refuse trucks were involved in the huge late night clean-up operation, with 30 per cent of the waste expected to be recycled.
Most streets around the event, held from Saturday to Monday, were back to normal by Wednesday, the council said.
Jet washing and the further clear up will continue into Friday, according to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
Metropolitan Police officers seen carrying away bags full of nitrous oxide gas canisters during Notting Hill Carnival over the Bank Holiday weekend
After the event, according to the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, they filled whole skips with laughing gas canisters.
The canisters had to be manually separated, according to Gary O’Hagan, general manager of the SUEZ recycling and recovery UK contract.
SUEZ has been doing the carnival clean-up for the municipality for many years, he stated today (Thurs). For one of the largest clean-up efforts in Europe, we have a tried-and-true operating strategy.
The staggering amount of huge nitrous oxide canisters we have seen this year is posing a serious difficulty for our staff.
The canisters must be manually separated from other trash because they pose a major danger to people’s health and safety if they are compacted.
We will have to reconsider the collecting strategy for the next year since this has greatly slowed down the procedure.
“By Friday, we’ll probably have four skip bins full with a thousand canisters or more.
A worker sweeping the streets and picking up rubbish on Tuesday morning following Notting Hill Carnival
Super-sized canisters of nitrous oxide or ‘hippy crack’ pictured on the streets of Notting Hill in west London
Large ‘nos’ canisters were found discarded on the streets of Notting Hill (pictured) as the clean-up operation got underway on Tuesday following the two-day street party in London
‘I am incredibly proud of the work my crews have done to return the streets to normal so quickly in the face of this new challenge.’
Cllr Emma Will, Kensington and Chelsea Council’s lead member for culture, leisure and community safety, said the crews had been ‘significantly’ slowed by the sheer volume of canisters.
She added: ‘Carnival is a wonderful reflection of our diverse, multi-cultural community but we also want to return the streets back to normal as soon as possible, with minimal disruptions.
‘I want to thank our waste collection teams at SUEZ and everyone who works so hard to make that happen.
‘The 200 crew members have been significantly slowed down by the sheer volume of canisters but nevertheless are working very hard to complete clean-up as quickly as possible.’
Cleaning staff pictured at the depot ahead of the clean-up operation on Tuesday morning. An army of council workers cleared 300 tonnes of rubbish – the same weight as 25 London buses – from the capital’s streets following Notting Hill Carnival
Canisters of ‘hippy crank’ were strewn across the streets of Notting Hill as a large clean-up operation got underway on Tuesday 30 August
Metropolitan Police officers were pictured collecting bags full of large nitrous oxide gas canisters after the two-day street party in the capital over the Bank Holiday weekend
After the Bank Holiday weekend street party in the capital, huge nitrous oxide canisters were left all over the streets of Landsowne Crescent in Notting Hill (photo).
A 21-year-old guy was fatally stabbed during the three-day carnival in front of terrified onlookers.
Takayo Nembhard, a soon-to-be father, was fatally stabbed on Monday night at 8 o’clock in Ladbroke Grove, west London, under the Westway flyover.
As coworkers attempted to help the severely wounded guy, police officers created a human chain around him.
Over 200 arrests were made over the course of the weekend, according to the police, including at least eight suspected sexual assaults and one murder.
In the murder inquiry, there have been no arrests made to yet.