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Jun 9, 2008 8:13 am US/Central
New Program Offers Free Fluorescent Bulb Recycling
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 400 million compact fluorescent light bulbs were sold last year, up from just 20,000 eight years ago.
AP
Energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs are a must-have item if you want to green up your house, but once they burn out, it's illegal to just throw them in the trash. Because they contain a very small amount of mercury, they must be recycled.
But a new program makes it easy and convenient to recycle those bulbs, and Minnesota is leading the nation with a totally free way to do that.
Matt Herman, an environmental compliance coordinator with Great River Energy, is no stranger to the benefits of compact fluorescent lights (CFLs).
"The compact fluorescents vary in size all the way up to the very large 200-watt replacement. Again, that's a bulb that now uses 65 watts of electricity instead of 200," he said. "They will save you up to $30 for the life of the bulb because they use so much less energy."
According to Herman, more consumers are switching over to CFLs because the price is more affordable and because the technology has really improved in the last five years.
"CFLs are like anything else -- there's good ones and there's bad ones. One good piece of advice is to look for the Energy Star logo on the bulb," he said.
Starting Monday, you can take your old CFLs to the customer service desk just inside the front door at every Menard's in Minnesota. Menard's General Manager Steve Gossen says all 36 stores in the state will put used CFLs in a special container, which will then be picked up by a company that recycles them safely.
The program is a partnership between Great River Energy, Menard's and the Minnesota Center for Energy and the Environment.
"The reason being is the compact fluorescent light bulbs are getting more and more popular with our guests trying to conserve energy," explained Gossen.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, nearly 400 million CFL bulbs were sold last year, up from just 20,000 eight years ago.
Another reason people are choosing CFLs is that they're now available in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. Some are now even dimmable.
"With the increased awareness of compact fluorescents, we're hoping that people if they have a place where they can bring their excess, or their old ones, that they can also pick up new ones," said Gossen.
There are complaints that recycling efforts have not kept pace, and critics emphasize the danger of mercury in the bulbs. A CFL has about 5 milligrams of mercury -- about one five-hundredth the amount of mercury in an old oral thermometer.
However, a coal-fired power plant will emit about four times as much mercury to power an incandescent bulb compared to a CFL. And if the 5 milligrams of mercury inside a CFL is recycled, the amount of mercury released is almost nonexistent.
"CFLs contain a little bit of mercury. For the most part, it gets taken in the recycling process. It doesn't have to ever be emitted," said Herman, adding if they are properly used, and not broken, there's no danger at all.
The IKEA store in Bloomington, Minn. also offers free CFL recycling. There are also some non-store recycling locations, but most of those have a small fee for taking your CFLs.
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