Recycling Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs (CFLs)

Recycling Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs (CFLs)

I read in Scientific American that Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs (CFLs) contain mercury, and some US stores/states have recylcing programmes at stores or kiosks. I didn’t realise they contained mercury, and probably would have just thrown them in the bin with my other rubbish. Links:

Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs at energystar.gov

Compact fluorescent lamp at Wikipedia

Toxic Mercury In CFL Bulbs

lamprecycle.org (not much use here in the UK)

I had a look to see what’s on offer in the UK. The "Recycle Now" website doesn’t seem to contain any information about how to recycle CFLs. Greenpeace has an article about CFLs, which suggests I should be able to take them back to the retailer. Do I have to prove that I bought the bulb from the retailer in the first place?

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