Disposing of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

Submitted by acusimm on Thu, Mar. 27, 2008

Dear Scienceman, Do you have an idea what we are supposed to do about these wonderful CFL bulbs that we all have bought that contain mercury? Now I have been told that when these new bulbs die, we are supposed to do something special with them? I've heard that it can cost as much as two thousand dollars if you drop one bulb - just to clean up the mercury that will be released? Is this really true? Do you know what we have to do? We supposedly are responsible for taking these bulbs to a toxic waste facility! How much of your time and energy do you want to spend, first looking and finding out where the closest facility is and then how much of our time and gas, do we want to spend, to take that one bulb, to the facility? If we don’t do this, Scienceman, what is our alternative?

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Comments (8)

Chris Middings

Thu, Jun. 26, 2008

Home Depot Now Collects Compact Fluorescents

Home Depot announced on that it will collect compact fluorescent light bulbs and send them off to be recycled.

Chris Middings

Thu, Aug. 14, 2008

CFLs and the Prius

There's an interesting perspective on CFLs (and the Prius) here: The Bottom Line On Lightbulbs And Hg (Mercury) - Let's Not Allow Perfect To Be The Enemy Of Good

Riboula

Tue, Jun. 24, 2008

Compact Fluorescents Safety

So a few days ago we learned a very hard lesson about the new "energy efficient" lights everyone is telling you to buy to save money and the environment. One very serious and important consequence that we as consumers are not being told is the mercury in these light bulbs and the risk we are taking if they break, which happened to us. It's quite serious if not cleaned up properly (which we did not know about at the time), especially for pregnant woman and little kids. I included a link below on the latest guidlines for clean up based on the new February Maine study: www.ct.gov/dph/lib/dph/cfl_fact_sheet_final.pdf
This was serious enought that we were advised by the health department to throw away our vacume, couch and area rug, actions that may be pointless at this point in time but we did anyway. Needless to say we will not be using the compact fluorescent lights anymore and we need to make sure families, especially, are being properly informed if they're going to use CFL lights

jennyviktoria

Sun, Jun. 22, 2008

What to do with CFL bulbs

I read on the message board at my local Whole Foods recently that they recycle them if you bring them in to the Customer Service desk, they stated their reason for this as they need to be handled carefully and not simply thrown into a recycling bin as a customer had asked for a bin for their CFLs. Not everyone is near a WF, but this is definitely helpful to us as our local trash center also has the statement that household CFLs should be thrown in with the regular trash and only people with a lot of them (read: Businesses) need to bring them in for hazardous waste disposal. Maybe check with your local green grocer?

wubbyluv

Sun, May. 18, 2008

Experience with Chemicals

First, I have my reservations about purchasing fluorescents. I used to work at a chemical lab that used mercury in some of their tests. You have a different perspective and realize just how unprepared some states are in relation to the regulatory process for these bulbs.

Secondly, recycling these by mail-in method is great in theory, but how much does mail really get jostled around, regardless of method. Those boxes are bent up when they say "FRAGILE: HANDLE WITH CARE" 98% of the time. What kind of potential contamination factor are you dealing with if one of these breaks enroute?

On a different, topic, I'd like to make an additional comment about those hybrids. There is apparently no solid recycling plan for those hybrid car batteries. Not only is that the case, but I live in a town that has several dealerships selling hybrid vehicles which has no certified auto repair shops that can work on the engines for these cars. If someone in this city needs theirs worked on, they have to travel an hour to the nearest large city to get it serviced.

Nachokitty

Sat, Apr. 12, 2008

Short Term Solution to a Long Term Issue

I've read over and over again that there is no concrete recycling plan in place for these bulbs. And while yes, they are similar to the tube bulbs that have been around for decades, now they're being required in many areas. That means just by sheer volume Mercury is going to start leaching into our water table in massive amounts.

These bulbs are a short term solution to a long term issue. While they may reduce our carbon footprint now, they will be a HUGE problem in terms of health, animals, foods, etc in a very short time.

Similar problem that hybrid cars will have. There is no solid recycling plan for those batteries either. What's going to happen when all those Prius batteries die? I shudder to think.

nathanielforearth

Fri, Apr. 11, 2008

What To Do With Your CFL Bulbs

That is a good question. This is what I do. At my local IKEA, they have this box in the sale place of the store, of which you can recycle this bulbs plush more that you can't throw away! If your IKEA does not have this, there are many mail in companies that recycle them.

the Inkslinger

Thu, Mar. 27, 2008

What To Do With Your CFL Bulbs

You ask a good question, Accusim. Many people aren't aware that compact fluorescent bulbs contain tiny amounts of mercury, which they need to create their light. But it's nothing to be alarmed about. The amount is a single bulb is very, very small, and it simply means that you can't throw it out with your regular trash and must take it to your local household hazardous waste collection site instead. At our house, we just keep our burned-out CFLs in a cardboard box in a safe, out-of-the-way place and take them to our district waste station whenever we have another reason to visit. As long as the bulbs remain unbroken, the mercury can't escape and there's no problem with storing them for until a disposal opportunity presents itself.

Still, people have been worried about breaking them and, as you note, there are stories floating around about a single bulb costing homeowners thousands of dollars to clean up. These are just rumors and there's not a shred of truth to them. I tell people to look at it this way: CFLs are basically the same long fluorescent tube lights people have been using for decades, just in a new shape and smaller size. We've never worried about using or handling these "old-fashioned" fluorescent tubes nor have we ever heard about them requiring expensive clean-ups when broken. Therefore we don't need to be afraid of CFLs either. They're the same technology just in a different package.

Still, if a CFL should break there are things we can do to minimize any contact with the mercury they contain. I wrote an article about safe CFL clean-up recently. You can find it here. If you see a broken bulb in a dumpster, unless it was broken within the last several minutes, chances are it's no longer hazardous. The mercury inside has long since vaporized into the air and been blown away. Not the best thing for the environment, of course, but it means there's no longer any immediate hazard to people in the area.

The bottom line is that we should be careful with CFLs but don't need to worry about them. And we certainly shouldn't stop using them! They're a key ingredient in the recipe for a healthy, low-carbon home.