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Recycling Your Lamps is One Easy Way to Help Our Environment

Recycling Your Lamps is One Easy Way to Help Our Environment

The right way to dispose of mercury-containing lamps

Each year in the U.S., more than 670 million lamps that contain mercury end up in landfills or worse, are incinerated. In a typical year, these discarded lamps can release approximately two to four tons of mercury into the environment. When released, mercury can contaminate water sources, organisms, and eventually affect the food chain.

Compact fluorescent and other types of lamps contain 3.5 to 15 milligrams of mercury (depending on the year of manufacture) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) highly recommends that these lamps be recycled.

Typically when a mercury-containing lamp is recycled, most components can be separated and reused. The mercury can also be recycled and used in new fluorescent lamps.

The Universal Waste Regulation provides mercury collection requirements to help reduce hazardous waste in municipal solid waste (MSW) making it easier for universal waste handlers to collect these items and send them for recycling or proper disposal. Most businesses are now required to comply with standards set by the Universal Waste Regulation depending upon how they are classified under the requirement.

Easy Procedures for Handling Used Lamps:

• Store used lamps in packaging that prevents breakage
• Handle lamps in a way that prevents breakage
• Educate employees on the proper procedures for handling lamps
• Spent lamps can be stored up to one year before sending to a recycler. Mark the packaging with the earliest date the lamps were placed into storage.
• Shipments must be shipped directly to universal waste handlers
• Neither the facility nor the transporters may dispose of, dilute, or treat mercury-containing lamps

If a lamp should break and release mercury, click here for EPA recommended spill clean-up procedures or call your local or state agency.

To find out about hazardous waste collection and recycling programs in your area, contact your state or local regulatory agency. Visit Where You Live, Earth911.org, or LampRecycle.org for more information.