Recycling Fluorescent Bulbs
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Nov 2008
does anybody know of some places in Lamorinda to recycle/properly dispose of florescent light bulbs? leslee
According to stopwaste.org: ''Home Depot announced it will offer free CFL recycling at each of its 1,973 locations. Customers can drop off expired, unbroken bulbs at the returns counter of any Home Depot store.'' StopWaste may have other options for you, too. JP
The OSH in Moraga takes them for recycling. You can just hand them to the customer service person at the front desk as you walk in. I'm sure other hardware stores will take them if the OSH is too much of a haul. Just call your local hardware store.
Feb 2008
Now that we have transferred over to using fluorescent light bulbs, I read somewhere that you have to be careful how you dispose of them. Does anyone know where around Rockridge that we can dispose of them? And while we're on the subject, what is the appropriate way to dispose of batteries? Thank you! anon
The only place I have heard that collects broken CFLs is IKEA. In fact, they've been accepting them since day 1 (it takes a Swedish company to get things right I suppose).
As far as batteries, you should not have any problem -- you could probably take them in to any Walgreens. Alameda County recycling centers will take them as well. If you have lots of them, it might make sense to separate them out, i.e., alkaline, Ni-MH, etc.
I recently came across gcycle.org as a one-stop shop on where to take stuff for recycling (although, they don't have any suggestions for recycling CDs).
I am guessing most people do what we do, i.e., collect stuff in a box, until we eventually figure out how to recycle it. anon
Everything you need to know is here: http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=703 michael
Check out this website http://www.recyclemore.com/
Many hardware stores like OSH will accept fluorescent bulbs (they have mercury in them). Office supply stores will often accept batteries and used cell phones.
The El Cerrito recycling center has buckets for household batteris and also accepts car batteries. For other household hazardous material like pesticides, paint and cleaners, look on the above website for your nearest location. crystal
Ikea in Emeryville has free bins for disposing of light bulbs and batteries. The bins are near the exit. I believe the bins are attached to a wall near the restrooms as you are exiting the store. Felicity
There are a lot of places to recycle those items. The easiest thing to do is go to stopwaste.org and use the recycling wizard there. It's easiest to use if you select ''all materials''. The list is alphabetical, so it's pretty easy to find places to recycle lots of things. It only covers Alameda county, though, so not all area options are shown. For example, residents can drop off household batteries at the El Cerrito Recycling Center. Still, it's a great resource. R.K.
Old batteries, fluorescent bulbs, old paint and any hazardous wastes are to be dropped off at Alameda County Household Hazardous Waste Drop off. The phone is (800) 606-6606. Call for directions and to find out when they are open. It is really easy, it's a drive through area so you don't even need to leave your car. They take it from you. We keep a bag in our utility closet and collect all old batteries, fluorescents, etc. and then when it's full enough drive it over. It's worth the effort! Alexandra
Ikea takes both. I think some other stores like Best Buy or Walgreens accept batteries and printer cartridges. A lot of stores that sell the products do have recycling programs. Just phone up some stores convenient to you that sell these products and ask. L
[Editor] additional responses received for Recycling Batteries