What to do with your old fluorescent lamps
When replacing fluorescent tubes with LED, be sure to recycle your old lamps. Your fluorescent lamps may be classified as hazardous waste. All fluorescent lamps contain mercury, and mercury content varies anywhere from 2mg to over 40mg, which can be released into the environment when broken or dumped into landfills.. It only takes 1mg of mercury seepage to make 175 gallons of water unsafe to drink.
Also, fluorescent ballasts manufactured through 1979 may contain PCBs, and should be carefully recycled in accordance with EPA standards.
Learn more about the disposal of fluorescent ballasts on the EPA’s website.
LED Living Technology has partnered with VEOLIA Environmental Services, the world’s leading hazardous waste management group, to encourage recycling and protection of the environment during retrofit projects.
Please refer to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) website for more information regarding current fluorescent tube disposal regulations.
The Slo Mo Guys show us the release of gas, including mercury, from a fluorescent tube when broken. Think Outside The Tube™.