Recent News
Please click here to be taken to our News and Information site.
Napa Offers Recycling for Consumers
The City of Napa California is offering free recycling for residential lamps through a creative arrangement with federal and local agencies and with the cooperation of selected retail stores and electric contractors. Napa has received a combination of federal stimulus funding, solid waste recycling fees and underwriting from PG&E, the energy utility, to manage a program for the next three years.
Retail stores and contractors in Napa that sell energy-efficient lighting are signing up with the City so they can allow their customers to bring in fluorescent lighting, both the tubes and CFLs, which will be packaged for shipment to an authorized lamp recycler. Ace Hardware, Orchard Supply, Home Depot, Napa Electric and Central Valley Supply allow consumers to return used lamps to the stores. Contact your nearest store to confirm that they are participating and get any details from them.
The ALMR appreciates and endorses these programs because they make it convenient for consumers to turn in old light bulbs, which can release mercury if not properly handled. This approach also uses the existing infrastructure for end-of-life management and does not require more bureaucracy or higher costs for consumers.
The ALMR is a non-profit organization representing members of the lighting and mercury recycling industry worldwide, and serving as an educational and informational resource to government, business and the public. Started in 1999, ALMR members in the U.S. recycle the majority of the mercury lamps that are currently being diverted from the municipal waste stream. A complete list of recyclers and additional information about lamp and mercury recycling can be found at www.almr.org.
For residential lamps there is a nationwide service offered by Earth911 to find the nearest (usually free) lamp recycling drop off locations. To find local resources for you from your zip code visit www.earth911.org
Lowe’s offers free recycling for customer’s CFLs
“Welcome to Lowe's” says the Major home improvement company on its website. And now, Lowe’s is welcoming spent Compact Fluorescent Light bulbs from its customers, and is taking responsibility to get those bulbs recycled. “CFLs should be recycled because they contain mercury which can be harmful to the environment if the bulbs are broken in the trash” said Michael Chenard, Lowes’s Director of Environmental Affairs Lowe’s is offering a free take-back service to any customer that brings a CFL into the store. “We want to help our customers save money and energy by using CFLs in their homes, and at the same time our commitment is to protect the environment”, said Mr. Chenard.
Customers can turn CFL lamps in at more than 1700 Lowe’s stores in the U.S. and Canada. The ALMR applauds Lowe’s for its forward thinking and its efforts to help its customers keep mercury out of the environment.