What is the proper way to dispose of old tubes?

The same way that you would throw out a dish or glass that has broken. That's what my dad did 50 years ago ... he owned and operated Chief Radio & Appliances in Brooklyn. He was the best bench technician out there.

Regards,

Rich

Rar1 - Did your father have a Hickok tube tester ? We had one in lab I used to oversee. By around 1990, the institution no longer had any equipment that used tubes so one day we excessed about 500 tubes and the Hickok. I'd like to have it now, for nostalgia.

Most tubes are primarily constructed of ordinary metal parts in a vacuum inside a glass bulb.

However, most tubes also have a "getter" to absorb any stray air molecules that get in the tube. This is generally made out of barium which is toxic. (It is what creates the white interior coating on a tube that has leaked.)

You'll want to be careful not to inhale any dust from a broken tube. I'm sure the EPA probably has some double-secret procedure (ever seen the instructions for disposal of a compact fluorescent light bulb?) but as long as you exercise common sense it shouldn't be too much of a problem.