The City of Guelph now recycles fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), and has expanded its household hazardous waste drop-off program to accommodate the new recycling initiative.
Residents can now dispose of their fluorescent tubes and CFL bulbs at the Household Hazardous Waste Depot, located at the Waste Resource Innovation Centre. The Depot is open Tuesday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Tubes and bulbs must be intact when brought to the Depot.
The new recycling program responds to a switch many residents have made from incandescent light bulbs to CFL bulbs in an effort to conserve energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In Guelph, thousands of households have made the change in advance of the Ontario government plan to ban inefficient light bulbs by 2012.
Fluorescent bulbs and tubes collected at the Depot will be recycled by Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers (FLR) Technologies Inc. FLR specializes in treating all mercury-containing lamp waste in a safe, economical and environmentally-friendly process. Each lamp is separated into its individual elements (glass, aluminum, phosphor powder, mercury) and recycled. Over 98 per cent of each lamp is recycled and diverted from landfill.
City staff at the Household Hazardous Waste Depot has been trained to safely handle fluorescent tubes and CFL bulbs, and to be familiar with the procedures to ensure the safe clean-up for broken lamps containing mercury.
CFL bulbs contain trace amounts of mercury, a toxic compound that can accumulate in the environment if not properly disposed of. If a bulb breaks, mercury vapour is released into the air and can be harmful. Although one compact fluorescent bulb contains less mercury than a household thermometer or watch battery, there are still concerns about how to safely dispose of the bulbs.
What residents should know if a lamp containing mercury breaks in the home
If a lamp containing mercury breaks in the home, residents should secure the area around the breakage, open windows to ventilate the area of the broken lamp, use latex gloves to clean up the broken lamp, and sweep any broken glass into a box. The box must be labelled “sharp objects” and can be placed at the curb on your clear waste collection day. Adhesive tape can be used to pick up any remaining small pieces of glass and powder residue still located on the surface.