# Where do "YOU" dispose of florescent lighting tubes??



## 4just1don (Jun 13, 2008)

Just wondering what is the correct way,,,and the NORMAL 'real world' way people dispose of their florescent lighting tubes,,,like the 4 or 8 foot kind,,but also the compact small ones too!!


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

CFL's I dispose of at HD
I have a few 2', 4' & 8' flourescents
So far in 6 years I haven;t had to replace any
When they die I will switch to CFL


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## Chevy85 (Jul 21, 2009)

There are many companies that will do a pick up at your location if you have alot of bulbs to pick up. Some will charge you about $0.60 per bulb to cover the envirofee. Most local Home Depot and Ace hardware locations have a free drop off.


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## joed (Mar 13, 2005)

Put in plastic bag. Hit with hammer. Put out with regular trash. 
CFL go to local store for recycle.


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## Chevy85 (Jul 21, 2009)

You do not want to put your tubes out with the regular trash! Depending on the year they were manufactured the level of mercury in each bulb will vary. Today there are less amounts but you should always have them taken by a proffesional to be properly disposed of.


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

Very timely post. Just last week I did a job which required me to change out sixty-four (64), four foot fluorescent light tubes. After completing the job I called our local City Solid Waste Department to find out what to do with this many tubes. I was told, with no stuttering, to just put them in the trash to be picked up by the City Sanitation Department. When I questioned the lady I was speaking with about just "throwing them in the trash" with the mercury and everything else that is in them, she replied that this was the proper method in our town. I even asked if there was a site I could take them to as I really didn't want them to get broken in one of those big purple "Barney" trash cans we have. NO, no site to take them to, unless you want to bring them to the local landfill (about 12 miles away) then then they would go into the dumpster labeled "Household Garbage". So, it looks like different municipalities have different rules/laws on disposal of fluorescent tubes. CFL's may be a different story altogether. Thanks, David


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## PLAIN O TX (Jun 12, 2009)

A few years ago 20 to be exact I moved to a country site and found some old bug posion with the lid rusted through. (long ago banned, kin to agent orange). I called the county extension agent and asked how to dispose of it. I was told to dump it on the ground or put it in a plastic bag if I wished and send it to the land fill. Since I had farm animals at the time I did not want it in their water supply. Then I called Dallas Tx county agent and got the same answer. I waited until the wind was blowing hard away from my animals and burned it. Was I happy? No. I have found there is no unified plan for disposal of banned substances. It is unfortunate many things have been banned but the aftermath has no real govt. conclusions.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

I find myself going to the City dump a couple of times a year anyways, so I save any CFLs ( have not had to get rid of any long tubes yet ) and take them to the hazardous waste drop off at our dump.


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## spark plug (May 5, 2009)

*Best way disposing of Fluorescent lights?*



joed said:


> Put in plastic bag. Hit with hammer. Put out with regular trash.
> CFL go to local store for recycle.


Slight correction on suggestion #1; On regular Fluorescent lights (non-CFL) Don't hit with hammer directly. With screw-driver and hammer, puncture the cardboard near pins. Let gas escape. Then hit lightly with hammer to cause fragmentation of tube, rather than have it explode! (No matter what) :yes::no::drinkon't Drink and Drive!!!


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## Scuba_Dave (Jan 16, 2009)

Flourescent tubes contain Mercury - same as the CFL's
They are NOT supposed to be broken to be disposed of



> Fluorescent lamps contain small quantities of mercury, cadmium and antimony. It has been estimated that between 450 and 500 million fluorescent lamps are disposed of in the United States each year, dumping over 30,000 metric tons of mercury contaminated waste into the nation's landfills'


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## Thurman (Feb 9, 2009)

FIY- -I had another job today to R&R fluorescent light fixtures. The lawyers office I had lit up so bright last week gave my name to another lawyers office for the same type work. I want all the lawyers in town to be my friends :yes:. So I go over today and change out four (4) ballast total and twenty-six (26) tubes. I tell one of the lawyers who was nosing around what I was doing about this forum and the talk about disposing of the tubes. Being as we were only two blocks from the local governmental building he suggested that WE take some of the old tubes, and WE go to the local governmental building to see if anyone there could give us a good answer. What they gonna do, lock boffus up? I think not. We go to the local code enforcement office first, the lawyer holds the six (6) tubes I had taped together up and asked them for the proper instructions as to how to properly dispose of them. Wait--let me paint this picture, he is about seventy-two (72) yrs. old, dressed in a blue/white pinstripped seersucker suit with black/white wingtip shoes on. The code enforcement people (all five (5) of them) just smile, and one says, "Just throw them in the trash, Jerry." He just turns to me and smiles, then states very loudly--"That's why they hire these dummies to do this job". :laughing: And we leave. Into a dumpster tomorrow. Thanks, David


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## johnnyboy (Oct 8, 2007)

well, it depends on how many bulbs you have. If you did a large rebulbing job and have 30+ bulbs, this is the best way to process them:

www.*youtube*.com/watch?v=-tvavXP7jyo


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## JCAHILL4 (Nov 3, 2008)

thats what I thought you were supposed to do...


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## hungtdao (Sep 9, 2009)

Let's save the earth and keep environment cleaned for us and for our future generation. If you live in or nearby Dallas, TX. Here is address.

11234 Plano Rd
Dallas, TX 75243

Every major city should have a same chemical waste collection center, so find out about city you live or cities nearby.


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## RegeSullivan (Dec 8, 2006)

Two quick stories related to florescent tubes.

At the Home Depot CS desk the guy in front of me hands over 6 or 8 T8s for recycling. She puts them in a grey trash can with a few other tubes. 15 or 20 minutes later I see a guy crushing them with a hunk of 2x4 right by the dumpster... then, you guessed it I'm sure... tosses them into the dumpster.

Thirty some years ago on an ambulance call for a "foot injury" at a small factory we find an older worker with a 8" or 10" section of a T12 tube sticking in one side and out the other side of his heavy leather work boot. There was a small explosion in an inspection cabinet that blew a florescent light apart and forced the tube through the boot and foot like a straw through a potato. After that trip I never went on shift with out a disposable camera in my gear.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

So we dispose the mercury containing bulbs to a hazardous waste site, then where does it go? Out of state, in a land fill, in someone else's back yard?


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## PoleCat (Sep 2, 2009)

I am inclined to think that rounding up all the old tubes into one location is a bad idea right out of the gate. Mercury occurs in nature but is extremely hazardous in concentrations. The ideal solution would be to recover & recycle. Until this is in practice you are better off throwing them out as you get them rather than hoarding up a toxic time bomb.


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## hungtdao (Sep 9, 2009)

In Dallas, TX where people can recycle this fluorescent light tubes and other chemical hazardous materials at
Home Chemical Collection Center
11234 Plano Road
Dallas, Texas 75243

I believe most major cities have this same chemical items collection center. Let's keep and save the earth for our future generations.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

Here is an interesting article on mercury testing in broken bulbs.

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/dsr/research/mercury-bulbs.pdf

In relative terms....mercury from tubs is just a fraction of that compared to coal power plants


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## jmon (Nov 5, 2012)

Even though this is an old post from 2009, it is very informative and important to revisit it. People should properly recycle them. :yes: There are drop off spots all over now. :thumbsup:

Nice article ddawg.


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## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

jmon said:


> Even though this is an old post from 2009, it is very informative and important to revisit it. People should properly recycle them. :yes: There are drop off spots all over now. :thumbsup:
> 
> Nice article ddawg.


Thanks jmon....

As a relative note.....while CFL's do contain mercury....the total mercury put into the environment is less than the total for an incandescent bulb when you factor in the mercury generated by coal fired power plants to generate the electricity for that incandescent bulb.

CFL's and fluorescent tubes are a stop gap until new and better technology comes along. Is it the LED? Maybe....I personally think the LED is not the Holy grail of lighting and the perfect light is waiting to be found. 

Until then....use CFL's and tubes as needed and dispose of properly. When possible, install LED's. The price is dropping fast....

In the 14 years I have been using CFL's, I think I have replace 3-4. I have 16 23w CFL's in recessed cans on the 1st floor of my garage....I want to go to LED's...but at the rate they are burning out....it looks like LED's might be obsolete technology before they do burn out.


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## Seattle2k (Mar 26, 2012)

In Seattle, dispose of FL bulbs here:
http://www.seattle.gov/util/MyServi...aste/WheretoDisposeofHazardousWaste/index.htm

or here: http://your.kingcounty.gov/solidwaste/takeitback/fluorescent/index.asp


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

In my area, they do a once a year EPA disposal gather at the fairgrounds in Springfield. I mark the bad bulbs with a Sharpie and place them in the box that I buy my tubes in bulk. CFL's though have become far and few in our place.

We still have to get the higher wattage CFL's for the Kitchen & Bath. Since you cannot get LED's with the higher Lum at 6500k. CFL's in our household go in the trash can. They have nearly not the higher amount of Mercury, as the Tube units do.


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## 4reel (Mar 3, 2013)

Every city/town has different capabilities. If their was disposal site is rated for wastes like mercury then in the trash they go. If not check with the local government to see what is available. I used to have a bunch of tubes in the basement and what I did was purchase a safety covering (plastic tube) from the local big box. You put your tube in it and smack the plastic holder with something hard and they fluorescent falls out the bottom. Regardless of how safe the procedure wear goggles.


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## Frozenoem (Jun 4, 2014)

Most hardware stores will accept them at least in Maine .


Sent using Tapatalk


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## frisbeeguy (Dec 1, 2009)

*Tube disposal is a problem!*

I have +300 of 'em in my van with no place to dispose of them.
Near Houston, TX.
The local recycling center won't even take them and they charge $1 per lamp!
Unless somebody can help w/ "proper" disposal, I'm going to just bust them up into a garbage bag & toss w/ my regular household waste.


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