difficulty recycling my old smoke detectors, with americium 241

[TheVat]

First, to all of you big box electronics stores who claim to recycle everything:   grrr.   Recent experience revealed how much the local Best Buy was actually throwing away because there's still a lot of e-waste that no US company has set up a method of harvesting.  It's the usual reasons - lax regulations, cutting corners, labor costs of dismantling materials to extract the goodies, etc.

So, given that my pile of six expired smoke alarms has six little chunks of americium 241 (HL=432 y), I don't think my local landfill is the proper place for them.  What am I supposed to do, mail them at my expense to First Alert or whichever company manufactured them?  Can I trust they will reuse the radioisotopes?  Or should I mail them to the DOE with a note, please forward to Yucca Flat?  I suspect the DOE would be unamused.

I cannot find a straightforward answer on the web, just a lot of vague hints from zealous recyclers that I will burn in Hell if I landfill radioactive materials no matter how tiny their emissions.  (these units are less than one microcurie or around 33 k becquerel )

(Our smoke alarm upgrade is partly prompted by the current news, and our proximity here to a tinder-dry national forest.)

[swansont]

Did you check with your municipal waste handlers? Lots of places have a couple of days a year where they handle HAZMAT waste.

Also I think some manufacturers will let you print a prepaid shipping label for return to them, like the printing companies do for toner cartridges.

[studiot]

For the benefit of those in Europe or the UK who might also like to know their answer to this question,  here are some instructions.

 

https://www.aico.co.uk/waste-electrical-and-electronic-equipment-weee/

 

https://www.cornwall.gov.uk/rubbish-recycling-and-waste/recycling/recycling-items/smoke-alarms/

[TheVat]

I am in process of trying to get information from Universal Security Instruments, the manufacturer.  The website was not too illuminating on what they do with the radioactive material, just a vague mention of a "disposal department" if you want to mail it back to them.  In my experience vague language usually means they just dump it.  And the FAQ actually says it's okay to just toss them out.  

Hazmat days come every two years in my small city.  And their list makes no mention of ionization smoke detectors, so it's anyone's guess what they would do.  

 

This is all so typical of the whole recycling experience in the US, where corporations drag their feet on closed loop recycling or actively lobby against it.