Fluorescent light bulbs, also called "tube lights", contain harmful materials. When tube lights are thrown away in landfills, they break and leak harmful materials into the environment. To protect your community from the harmful materials in tube lights, it's important to recycle them.
Wondering where to recycle tube lights? Knowing the options for recycling tube lights in your community is important. Taking steps to dispose of tube lights properly is a way to protect your environment and the people who live in your community.
What Are Tube Lights?
Tube lights are lights that are built in the shape of a tube that contains argon and mercury. This tube generates ultraviolet light, which is invisible. The ultraviolet light excites a fluorescent coating on the inside of the tube. This fluorescent coating is what emits visible light.
Tube lights are good for the environment because they require less energy to function. In fact, tube lights are four to six times more energy efficient than the standard incandescent bulbs that were used in homes for years. However, tube lights can be bad for the environment if they're not recycled properly.
What Damage Can Tube Lights Do to the Environment?
When tube lights are broken in landfills, they can leak mercury into the soil. Mercury that accumulates in the soil can kill plants and prevent the growth of plants and agriculture. Mercury is also toxic to humans. Once in the soil, mercury can stay there for a long time.
Are You Required to Recycle Tube Lights?
Laws that require tube lights to be recycled vary from one state to the next. Tube light recycling is not required in every state, so call your sanitation company to learn whether tube lights recycling is required in your community. The EPA recommends that all tube lights be recycled.
What Are the Benefits of Recycling Tube Lights?
Recycling tube lights keeps mercury out of the soil. In addition, many of the parts of tube lights can be recycled and used in future tube lights and in other ways.
Where Can You Find Out Where to Recycle Tube Lights?
Small CFL lights (light bulb shaped tubes) can be turned into a number of big box home improvement retailers for recycling. Call your local big box home improvement retailer to find out if they accept these lights for recycling
You can also find a place to recycle your tube lights by either calling your local sanitation company or by checking this online recycling map.
Wondering Where to Recycle Tube Lights? Buy the Right Containers
Recycle Away sells a number of recycling bins that's helpful for any business that would like to collect tube lights for recycling. On Recycle Away's website, you'll find recycling bins of different shapes and dimensions and with different aesthetic options.
Choose the recycling container that will safely store the items you need to recycle. Recycle Away also sells containers with varied messaging on the bins for your convenience. In addition, our satin and stainless options are tasteful and attractive for your store or business.
Need a recycling container? Contact us to get a quote and learn more about getting recycling bins for your workplace.