It’s Kuhl To Recycle: New Year, New Alarm

What Can You Do With Your Dead Smoke Detector?

By Mark Kuhl

For the GPHN

After your smoke detector wakes you at 2 a.m. with a false alarm and you discover it has reached its expiration date and won’t stop chirping until you remove the battery, what do you do with it?

You will be tempted to place it in your electronics recycling pile for the next trip to BlueStar Recyclers. But they don’t take them because they may contain a small amount of radioactive material. Nor does Denver’s household hazardous waste program, or Staples, or any other place we take our dead electronics for recycling. It’s illegal to toss electronics in the trash in Colorado because toxic materials can leach into groundwater.

Hopefully in the future there will be what’s called an “extended producer responsibility” committing all manufacturers to address recycling of their devices. Until then, your best bet is to mail your dead smoke and carbon monoxide detectors back to the manufacturers for proper disposal.

Mark Kuhl is an environmental advocate who lives in Park Hill with his family. His handy recycling tips appear every month. A directory of past columns is at greaterparkhill.org/sustainability/recycling-directory/.