found out today there is a law stopping scrap yards from buying CO2 (?) tanks

With reference to a keg belonging to the brewery, it doesn't. I scrapped one that i was given last month and had no problems. When you buy a keg of beer you put a deposit down that you get back if you bring the empty keg it back, if you don't than you basically bought the keg. the deposit is a lot more than the keg is worth as scrap for incentive to take it back since they refill them.

the yard i go to will accept propane tanks and suck as short steel or heavy steel if they are cut in half.
I'm not sure about the legality of other tankls, but if they are legal to scrap the will take them cut

Originally Posted by CMHN

The deposit is just to encourage people to bring them back and so the store doesn't loose as much if its not brought back. It isn't meant as payment for the keg. The store can come back to you and demand the keg back or the money to replace it, and keep your deposit for their troubles. The Keg is property of the store not the user.

As for the CO2 tank, most yards around me wont accept any kind of compressed air tank like that for fear of an explosion when they shred it.

Around here I can recycle any tank I want as long as I can get the valve out or drill a large hole in it, but kegs cannot be scrapped. It's rather hard to steal CO2 tanks as they are usually in the back of a restaurant, I think it'd probably be easier to steal the cash register...

Originally Posted by Red

With reference to a keg belonging to the brewery, it doesn't. I scrapped one that i was given last month and had no problems. When you buy a keg of beer you put a deposit down that you get back if you bring the empty keg it back, if you don't than you basically bought the keg. the deposit is a lot more than the keg is worth as scrap for incentive to take it back since they refill them.

I am calling shenanigans. This is like saying I put a deposit down on my apartment, now I own it.

Read this article: Beer kegs become hot commodity for thieves - USATODAY.com

It specifically says:

Just a few years ago about 3% to 4% of brewer Sierra Nevada's kegs disappeared because of theft or other loss. Last year, the losses doubled, founder Ken Grossman says. The Chico, Calif.-based brewer owns approximately 180,000 kegs, and each costs $150 to replace.


and...
Approximately 300,000 kegs were stolen at a loss of $50 million in 2007, estimates the Washington-based Beer Institute. Approximately 10% of the 625 million gallons of beer annually sold in the USA is in kegs, which are owned by brewers.