Smoke Detectors

Photoelectric smoke detectors can be disposed of in your household trash. Please remove the household (often AA or 9V) batteries and take them to Staples for recycling.

However, ionization smoke alarms contain an extremely small amount of radiation and should not enter the waste stream. First Alert is one of the few, or perhaps the only, alarm company that will recycle ionization smoke detectors. See their helpful page about disposal: https://support.firstalert.com/s/article/detector-disposal.

See also their page explaining the difference between Photoelectric and ionization alarms: https://www.firstalert.com/us/en/safetycorner/ionization-vs-photoelectric-smoke-alarms/

If you don’t have First Alert, check the company’s web page about disposal. If the company doesn’t offer a return-for-recycling plan, you’ll have to throw it in the trash after removing the household batteries.