Old Smoke Detector Disposal (recycle, plastic, environmental, regulations)
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What is the best way to dispose of old smoke detectors? I have several marked "contains radioactive material" which are bein replaced. Is this something for the hazardous material section at the landfill drop off point? Even I don't feel right about putting these in the trash.
What is the best way to dispose of old smoke detectors? I have several marked "contains radioactive material" which are bein replaced. Is this something for the hazardous material section at the landfill drop off point? Even I don't feel right about putting these in the trash.
What we should probably do - in order to be the most environmentally friendly we can be - is put these old smoke detectors in a specially approved, very expensive plastic bag, seal the bag, put it in our car and drive 85 mile one way to the nearest drop-off site.
Then, after dark, the people at the drop-off site will just toss all of them into the regular dumpster.
I spoke to the trash service and heres what they said.
Those smoke detectors have such little radioactive material that recovery of it is expensive and may create more enviromental issues.
By itself an intact smoke detector would not create any enviromental issue and can be buried in the back yard without ever impacting anything.
You can swallow the radioative material and it will have no real impact on your body.
But they collect them seperately because:
They are nearly 100% recyclable with easy seperation of the material.
The board has a gold plated chamber for the radioactive material.
A few hundred smoke detectors means nothing in the landfill but a million ior so broken open detectors are an issue.
It makes folks feel like they are making a difference because of the "radioactive" lable.
Overall they see no benefit to burying something that is so easy to recycle, so thats why they do it.
Some state and local laws and regulations prohibit the disposal of ionization smoke detectors when you look at the municipal waste stream. As a result, smoke detectors containing radioactive material should always be returned to the maker for disposal. In the event that manufacturer refuses to accept the return associated with the smoke detector, talk to your local governmental agency.
Being smart with hazardous waste disposal doesn’t require lots of money. It just needs discipline. https://hazardouswastedisposalsandie...manage-wastes/
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