The recycling events will offer consumers a free and convenient opportunity to drop-off and recycle their used compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and fluorescent tubes.
The mercury released from broken bulb is mostly in vapor form. If properly cleaned up, broken bulbs or CFLs do not pose a serious health risk. Though the amount of mercury released from a broken tube or CFL is small, proper disposal of the broken tube or CFL and minimization of personal exposure are necessary.
Incandescent bulbs and lamps can be tossed into the trash. If a bulb is broken, wrap it first in paper or plastic before placing it in your trash bin. This prevents broken edges from cutting through your garbage bag and creating a mess, and it helps protect you and your waste hauler from accidental injury.
You can recycle all household batteries at our recycling points, including AAA, AA, C , D, 9 volt, button and those from appliances such as mobile phones, laptops, hearing aids, watches, cameras, cordless power tools, electric toothbrushes, razors, toys, burglar alarms, and hand-held vacuum cleaners.
Safe light bulb disposal
- Standard light bulbs should be disposed of in normal household waste.
- Compact fluorescent lamps are energy saving light bulbs and do not belong in the rubbish bin.
- Halogen Light bulbs should be disposed of in normal household waste.
CFL, fluorescent, LED, discharge: Bring these to your nearest household recycling centre (usually at your local tip). You can use Recolight's online map to find your nearest recycling point in the UK.
Lowes accepts compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) for recycling in 1,700 US stores. Their permanent recycling centers offer a free, convenient and easy way for customers to recycle rechargeable batteries, cell phones, CFLs and plastic shopping bags.
All fluorescent lamps and tubes must be recycled, or taken to a household hazardous waste disposal facility, a universal waste handler (e.g., storage facility or broker), or an authorized recycling facility.
And we can't simply toss those phones and electronics into the trash—or at least we shouldn't. The lead, mercury and other toxic materials in electronics can leak from landfills, threatening groundwater supplies. But you can't throw them in the recycling bin either—few municipal waste firms can recycle electronics.
Compact Fluorescent Light (CFL) BulbsBring your used CFL bulbs to us where we'll dispose of them safely. Since they contain mercury, CFL bulbs should never be thrown out with regular household waste. Take your used light bulbs into any Lowe's and simply deposit them into our recycling bin.
Fluorescent lamps that are not low-mercury or green-marked are generally considered to be regulated hazardous waste after their useful life. They may not be placed in dumpsters or discarded with ordinary trash, where they are almost certain to be crushed by other waste or broken.
You can bring old CFLs to The Home Depot for free recycling. Visit the Eco Options website to learn more. If you're concerned about the mercury content in CFLs, consider LED bulbs. One of many LED advantages is that they don't contain mercury and do not have the same cleanup constraints.
Once you've confirmed that foam cup and food service containers are accepted in curbside blue bins where you live, recycling them is a breeze. Just like other recyclable food packaging, foam food containers just need to be wiped of food residue and can be placed on your curbside receptacle.
Best Buy will not only recycle the items mentioned above, but they will take remotes and game controllers, plastic bags, rechargeable batteries, ink and toner cartridges, and lastly wires, cords and cables. Find a drop-off location near you using our Recycling Locator.
LED light bulbs can be recycled just like other lighting waste however, these energy-efficient bulbs have to be discarded correctly to reap the benefits. Whatever you do, don't place LED bulbs or any other lighting in the household recycling bin as this will contaminate your recycling.
Still, swallowing a high concentration of mercury on the short term can lead to severe harmful and even life-threatening effects. When inhaled, most of the mercury vapours are absorbed by the lungs. The parts of the body most affected by mercury inhalation are the kidneys and the central nervous system.
LEDs don't contain harmful substances. They have an extremely long service life and are virtually maintenance free. You should look for the disposal rules that apply to the equipment in which they're incorporated. You can dispose separate LED lamps free of charge at local collection points or recycling centers.
Some local governments will accept shredded paper at the curb or at recycling centers if it is bagged. Unfortunately, most recommend putting shredded paper in a plastic bag, which is likely to end up in the landfill. Some forward-thinking local governments allow people to package the shards in more eco-friendly ways.
What you can put in the blue top bin
- Tins, cans and aerosols. food tins and drinks cans.
- Foil. clean kitchen foil and foil ready meal containers.
- Paper and card. • cardboard boxes.
- Glass bottles and jars. • glass drinks bottles (clear and coloured)
- Plastic bottles.
- Plastic tubs and trays.
Single-use batteries contain a number of materials that are recyclable. You can recycle them by dropping them off at a local facility or by participating in the many mail-in or take-back programs that are available. Recycling batteries through mail in programs works particularly well for office buildings. Batteries are considered hazardous waste in California when they are discarded. This includes AAA, AA, C, D, button cell, 9-volt, and all other batteries, both rechargeable and single-use. Batteries are potentially a valuable source of recyclable metal.
Many Home Depot, IKEA, and Lowes stores provide free CFL recycling. Smaller, more localized outlets such as Ace Hardware, True Value, Menards, and Aubuchon Hardware may offer CFL and fluorescent tube recycling services – typically at no cost – either on their own or in association with utility-run programs (see below).
