Energy saving light bulbs (from our local Recycle council website):
‘Light bulbs containing mercury (low energy light bulbs, gas discharge lamps or fluorescent tubes) are classed as hazardous waste.
Hazardous waste items should not be disposed of through the general waste route. A designated container is provided at all of our permanent Household Waste Recycling Sites for these bulbs, the most common type being fluorescent tubes.
The bulbs and tubes are collected and reprocessed into the components of crushed glass, ferrous and non ferrous metals and mercury.’
(note the plastic parts cannot be recycled which is a large proportion of the bulb)
The ‘last 10 years thing’ is a con- they do not like being turned on and off and may well not be energy saving at all if they are turned on and off often (see previous thread about this). They are designed to be left on for long periods (it is to do with the way they work with a kind of ‘start-up’) so not much good for the average domestic setting. I have had 3 such bulbs come to the end of their lives in less than 3 years. I could go off on a rant now about my hatred of these so-called ‘energy-saving’ light bulbs but will stop before I get carried away… grrrrr.
