Advice for Householders on Disposal of Lo-energy CFL lamps and Fluo' tubes

Advice for Householders on Disposal
of Lo-energy CFL lamps and Fluorescent tubes
 
What should I do to recycle my Lo-energy lamps and tubes?
  • Don’t put them in the general purpose waste bin at home, but put them carefully aside where they won’t get broken.
  • Take them as soon as convenient to your local Civic Amenity household waste disposal centre and put them in the special container that should be provided both for Lo-energy lamps and for tubes as well. They will be sent on to a recycling plant. You do not have to pay anything to do this, at the CA site.
  • As an alternative, especially if you are buying new Lo-Energy lamps, some retailers will be able to take back the old lamps if you take them with you when visit their store.
What do I do if the lamp breaks before I can take it to be recycled?

Treat these lamps just as if a standard bulb breaks, the same care is needed to avoid cuts from broken glass. You should sweep up all of the remaining lamp parts and debris and then put them carefully into a container suitable for carrying broken glass and take it to your local Civic Amenity household waste disposal centre.
The case for changing from a household bulb to a Lo-energy CFL

Changing from a standard household bulb to a Lo-energy Compact Fluorescent lamp saves you money on your household electricity bill. Each lamp changed can save you £9 per year or £100 over it’s 1114 hour average life time*. About 300 million standard bulbs are sold in the UK each year and together over this life consume up to 100W each, or 3.3 billion watt-hours (3342 megawatt-hours) of electrical energy in total.

By replacing a 100W standard bulb with a 20W Lo-energy CFL, 80% of the generating capacity needed to produce this amount of electrical energy can be saved, together with the greenhouse gases produced in the process, up to 38kg of CO2 per lamp, per year.
*(based on actual life data and 10.41p per kWh)
Why is that important?
  • "CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere have risen one third since the industrial revolution and are set to double in the next 100 years”
    Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change; Climate Change 2007
  • “Global warming could shrink the global economy by 20%”
    Sir Nicholas Stern, Stern report
Why do I need to be careful how I dispose of my Lo-energy CFL-I lamps?

These lamps function in much the same way as a fluorescent tube and contain electronic components and a small amount of mercury to deliver their overall energy benefit. It’s therefore much better not to put these lamps in the normal household waste bin. A more environmentally friendly and responsible way of disposal is to ensure that the lamps are recycled at the end of their life. New Lo-energy lamps sold today now carry the following informative mark as a reminder:
WEE Directive