does lowe's recycle fluorescent tubes

Retail and other locations in certain counties and states: U.S. EPA does not endorse, recommend, certify, authorize or approve of these services. Some bulb manufacturers and other organizations sell pre-labeled recycling kits that allow you to mail used bulbs to recycling centers. They not only provide long-lasting illumination of 35,000 to 50,000 hours and use a fraction of the energy their incandescent predecessors do, LED bulbs are also safe to dispose of in your household waste. A A's AMD AMD's AOL AOL's AWS AWS's Aachen Aachen's Aaliyah Aaliyah's Aaron Aaron's Abbas Abbas's Abbasid Abbasid's Abbott Abbott's Abby Abby's Abdul Abdul's Abe Abe's Abel Abel's Contact your local waste authority or check the. We only provide these links as a convenience to our web visitors. You fill up a kit with old bulbs, seal it, and bring it to the post office or leave it for your postal carrier. Take CFLs to any Home Depot or Lowe’s location. sometimes collect household hazardous wastes only once or twice a year, so residents will have to hold on to their light bulbs until the collection takes place. If you must dispose of a broken fluorescent tube, follow the steps below for the safe clean-up and disposal of CFLs. United States Environmental Protection Agency, City of Napa and southern Napa County, California, EasyPak from Lamprecycling.com (AirCycle), RecyclePak from Veolia Environmental Services, Simple Cycle (Lamp Environment Industries, Inc.), Think Green From Home (Waste Management Inc.), WasteSecure (Universal Recycling Technologies, LLC), View information about recycling and disposal requirements for CFLs and other "universal wastes" that apply to businesses, Learn how to establish a recycling program for mercury-containing light bulbs, Contact search.Earth911.com to find a recycling center, Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers. Visit Earth 911 and enter “CFLs” and your zip code for locations of local collection centers. Linear, U-tube and circline fluorescent tubes. Copyright © 2021 Acton Media Inc. All rights reserved. Disposing of a broken fluorescent tube requires extra care, since a small amount of mercury vapor escapes when the tube breaks. Fluorescent lights are accepted at HHW collection events. Even the most enduring bulb will burn out eventually, however, and need to be tossed—along with those you seek to replace. Keep reading to learn the how to dispose of light bulbs correctly, be they incandescents, halogens, or just about any other type of light bulb in your home. By Glenda Taylor and Bob Vila. Visit search.Earth911.com Exit to find stores in your area or check the list below. Use the sticky side of duct tape to lift any residual tiny bits of glass or powder from the surface. The Dos and Don'ts of Air-Drying Everything You Own, 5 Ways to Prevent Cracks in Concrete—and 1 Easy Fix, Make Your Home Less Chaotic With These 12 Simple Changes. provide services that are usually free, though some may charge a small fee. Follow the recommendations on this page if you need to dispose of another type of mercury-containing light bulb, such as: Store fluorescent light bulbs in containers that prevent them from breaking, such as in their original boxes, boxes from replacement bulbs, or containers supplied by fluorescent light bulb recyclers. To date, no national LED recycling regulations or initiatives exist, but if you’d prefer to recycle, contact your local recycling center to see if they take LEDs. While halogen bulbs are less likely to break than incandescent bulbs due to the thicker glass, it’s still wise to place them in another type of disposable packaging before tossing them out. Quickly becoming the energy-efficient bulb of choice in American homes, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) create light by sending electrons through a semiconductor material, triggering a process known as “electroluminescence,” which is similar to the way a laser works. Visit Earth 911 and enter “fluorescent tubes” and your zip code to find a list of collection sites near you. You agree that BobVila.com may process your data in the manner described by our Privacy Policy. Turn off your HVAC system to keep from circulating potentially toxic mercury vapor. They are fragile, however, and if they break, the sharp glass could puncture a plastic garbage bag, posing a risk of injury to you or to a sanitation worker. Freon tanks – Contact Environmental Recycling at (859) 293-0167. Recycling prevents the release of mercury into the environment. Easily identifiable by their narrow glass tubes, twisted into curlicue shapes, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFLs) fit into standard light fixtures and last 8,000 to 20,000 hours. However, fluorescent tubes contain mercury—an environmental toxin—and should not be thrown out with ordinary household waste. EPA recommends that consumers take advantage of available local options for recycling CFLs, fluorescent bulbs and other bulbs that contain mercury, and all other household hazardous wastes, rather than disposing of them in regular household trash. Until then, if you can’t find a convenient drop-off spot, rest assured that LEDs will not release harmful toxins into the environment if chucked in your regular trash. CFLs and other fluorescent bulbs often break when thrown into a dumpster, trash can or compactor, or when they end up in a landfill or incinerator. Glenda Taylor, Bob Vila, upgrade your home with more energy-efficient light bulbs, should not be thrown out with ordinary household waste, United States Environmental Protection Agency. Make sure you check directly with the store before you go; not all stores in regional or nationwide chains may participate, and some stores may recycle only certain types of bulbs (for example, a store may recycle CFLs but not 4-foot fluorescent tubes). Fortunately, many home improvement stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s, along with other major retailers, offer fluorescent recycling collection stations where consumers can drop off their old tubes free of charge. Fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) – Take fluorescent tubes to the Electronic Recycling Center, 1306 Versailles Rd. An official website of the United States government. Other collection agencies provide collection services throughout the year. If your municipality doesn’t recycle LEDs, drop them off during your next trip to retailers such as Home Depot, IKEA, or Lowe’s, which offer bulb recycling bins. I have been a nurse since 1997. If you drop a CFL bulb and break it, the United States Environmental Protection Agency recommends the following safe disposal method: If your state or community does not regulate the disposal of CFLs, and no recycling center is handy, the EPA suggests putting a used (or broken) CFL in a plastic bag and then putting it in your outside trash can for pickup. Now that’s seeing the light! You can also find mail-in programs online; they send out disposal kits with a pre-addressed container in which you can safely mail your old CFLs (they run anywhere between $30 and $70, depending on how many CFLs they hold). Your area may prohibit disposal and/or require recycling. We would like to show you a description here but the site won’t allow us. If your state or local environmental regulatory agency permits you to put used or broken CFLs in the regular household trash, seal the bulb in a plastic bag and put it into the outside trash for the next normal trash collection. Similar to incandescent bulbs, halogen bulbs contain wire filaments, which are sealed under pressure in thick, high-silica glass bulbs. Expert advice from Bob Vila, the most trusted name in home improvement, home remodeling, home repair, and DIY. Recycling is becoming more popular, and because LEDs do not contain the fine wires that prevent the recycling of incandescent and halogen varieties, you’re likely to see more LED recycling options in the future. Some states and local jurisdictions have more stringent regulations than U.S. EPA does, and may require that you recycle CFLs and other mercury-containing light bulbs. Many hardware supply stores and other retailers offer in-store recycling. If you recently set out to upgrade your home with more energy-efficient light bulbs, you’ve likely seen there’s a bigger selection of light bulb varieties available today than ever before, with some designed to last as long as 50,000 hours. There may be other similar services of which we are not aware. Incandescent light bulbs, the old standby we relied on for our reading lamps and overhead fixtures since the early 1900s, are slowly being edged out by higher efficiency versions. In fact, as of 2018, recycling fluorescent tubes is the law in California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington, and more states are bound to follow with these regulations. Virtually all components of a fluorescent bulb can be recycled. usually accept waste only from residents, although some collection programs include small businesses as well. They contain a wire filament in a thin, sealed glass bulb, but no toxic chemicals, so these bulbs can be safely thrown away in your regular household waste (not recycling, because the tiny wire filaments are too difficult to remove during the glass recycling process). Use stiff paper, such as an index card to scoop up the broken bits of glass and powder residue, and dispose of it in a plastic bag or a glass jar. Halogen bulbs, which last 2,000 to 4,000 hours, can be disposed of in your regular household waste (their fine wires prevent them from being recyclable). Whether yours has burnt out or is phasing out for a more energy-efficient model, be sure to slip a burned-out incandescent bulb into another type of disposable packaging, such as a used cereal box, before putting it in the trash. Recyclers generally require that the light bulbs arrive unbroken. However, fluorescent tubes contain mercury—an environmental toxin—and should not be thrown out with ordinary household waste. Websites that provide more information about mail-back services. may also collect paints, pesticides, cleaning supplies or batteries. They are an advanced type of incandescent bulb and can be used in standard lighting fixtures, designed for both indoor and outdoor use. The short answer is: visit search.Earth911.com Exit to find out. You can also search online for an LED recycler, such as HolidayLEDs, which accepts used LED Christmas lights at no charge (except shipping). Disclosure: BobVila.com participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for publishers to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. The cost of each kit includes shipping charges to the recycling center. Unlike compact fluorescent light bulbs, which contain a small amount of mercury and should be treated as potentially hazardous, LED bulbs can be safely thrown in the trash or recycled. Learn more about CFLs and mercury. Use disposable wet wipes or damp paper towels to wipe the area clean and place wipes in the plastic bag or glass jar along with the broken glass and used duct tape. They typically only burn for 700 to 2,000 hours, and you can still find some lower-wattage incandescent bulbs on store shelves. Contact Us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem. For tutoring please call 856.777.0840 I am a recently retired registered nurse who helps nursing students pass their NCLEX. , cleaning supplies or batteries of local collection centers tube, follow the does lowe's recycle fluorescent tubes below for the safe clean-up disposal. In your area or check the list below dumped in the regular trash provide that... Find stores in your area or check the list below Contact us to ask a question, provide feedback or... To ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem usually free, though may! Contact us to ask a question, provide feedback, or report a problem those you seek to.! 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