What is the proper way to dispose of old tubes?

Let me clarify: I'm not worried about injuring myself, but rather with complying with applicable regulations regarding the disposal of items like this.

Ie, I am concerned with "doing the right thing."

[Stunned silence.]

One of the posts above indicates that tubes contain a toxic material. If so, then it may well be that there are rules regarding the disposal of tubes.

If anyone knows if there are such rules, that is the information I am looking for, together with suggestions as to where/how to dispose of the tubes. (For example, are there companies that specialize in the disposal of toxic materials like this?)

This is an interesting post, and I congratulate Jimjoyce25 for caring enough
to ask the question.

It reminds me of the hundreds of thousands of compact fluorescent light
bulbs that are presently being pushed as eco-friendly. These bulbs require
special disposal due to their mercury content. However, you'll not see
mention of this disposal requirement on most of the packaging. Rather, the
info is available only on certain websites, like this GE website.

I imagine the result is that fewer than 10% of these bulbs are disposed of
properly. Rather, they end up in the trash headed straight to our landfills.

For barium info see:
http://www.epa.gov/ogwdw000/contaminants/dw_contamfs/barium.html

The official disposal of barium containing vacuum tubes would be similar to the handling for cathode ray tubes (CRTs). CRTs can contain quite a bit of lead (from shielding) which audio vacuum tubes do not contain.

Here are current EPA rules:

http://electronics.ihs.com/news/2008/epa-amends-crt-recycling.htm?wbc_purpose=basic&WBCMODE=p%2Cp%2Cp%2Cp%2Cp%2C

You will note that households are exempt from federal rules, even with all their lead content. Note that individual states (or other countries) may have different rules.

Where I live, there are special garbage depots in the city where items containing toxic wastes can be dropped off rather than simply disposed of in the regular garbage. Does your city use recylcing boxes and have recycling pick-up along with regular garbage? If so, the information on garbage pick up at your city's website would contain information as to how to dispose of household items like batteries, CFL lightbulbs, etc.

Jimjoyce and everyone else,
I would love to have your old tubes as long as they are not cracked. If you'd like to send them to me, please email me for my address.
Thanks!