Advice for Householders on Disposal of Low energy CFL-I lamps (and Fluo' tubes)

Why do I need to be careful how I dispose of my CFL-I lamps and Fluo' tubes?

CFL-I 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* (see the note below). 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 and you should therefore separate them from your normal household waste and dispose of them at your local authority recycling centre in the separate containers they will have available for these lamps.The containers are returned to specialist companies for recycling.

New CFL-I lamps and tubes sold today now carry the following informative mark as a reminder that they should be separately recycled:

How should I deal with a broken CFL?

Although the accidental breakage of a lamp is very unlikely to cause any health problems, it’s good practice to minimise any unnecessary exposure to mercury, as well as risk of cuts from glass fragments.

Fetch clean up materials as soon as possible, ventilating the room for a few minutes. Preferably do not use a vacuum cleaner, but clean up using rubber gloves and aim to avoid creating and inhaling airborne dust. Sweep up all particles and glass fragments and place in a plastic bag. Wipe the area with a damp cloth, then add that to the bag and seal it. Because Mercury is considered hazardous the bag should not be disposed of in the bin, but at a *civic amenity facility near where you live.

*All local councils have an obligation to make arrangements for the disposal of CFL’s and similar lamps at a civic amenity site or household waste recycling centre. You can find where they are on the website:

www.recycle-more.co.uk/banklocator/banklocator.aspx

Please note: You will need to find the full postcode of the Civic Amenity site first to use 'Bank Locator'. At the foot of this page you will find a link which will take you to a postcode list of Civic Amenity sites. Enter the first two letters for the postcode region in the search field and a pop-up list will appear. Choose one in your area, use the 'Bank locator' link above to enter the full postcode you selected in the search field provided and then 'Bank locator' will bring up a local map to guide you to the actual location of the Civic Amenity site near you.

Producer's and Retailer's responsibilities - What the Regulations say

From 1st July 2007, waste CFLs have been subject to the requirements of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations. Those who manufacture and sell energy efficient bulbs provide information to the public about how to deal with waste bulbs and other WEEE. Some retailers take them back in store. However, most retailers have funded Designated Collection Facilities, in the main at local authority civic amenity sites. From this point, producers fund the transport, treatment and recycling, where most of the mercury can be recovered, and this is managed by Recolight on their behalf.

*The case for changing from a household bulb to a Low-energy CFL-I

Changing from a standard household bulb to a Low energy CFL-I 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 Low energy CFL-I, 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)
Source: The Energy Saving Trust, July 2007.

+Why is that important? - More and more information points to a link between increasing greenhouse gas concentrations in our atmosphere and the phenomenon of global warming:

"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

Further Links

DEFRA Website: Energy Saving Light Bulbs
The European Lamp Industry’s Strategy for Domestic Lighting (PDF)
Search for your nearest Designated Collection Facility by postcode

Page last updated: 23/07/2008

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