How to dispose of your current lighting

Incandescent Bulbs

These bulbs typically do not contain toxic chemicals, so you can throw them away in your regular trash or recycle them at your local hardware store. As with any glass object, be careful of glass shards.  It’s always wise to surround bulbs in plastic or other packing materials.

Compact Fluorescent (CFL) Bulbs

Unlike incandescent bulbs, each CFL contains about four milligrams of mercury, which is harmless when the bulb is intact but potentially toxic if the bulb breaks in a landfill and enters the water stream. California, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont and Washington have more stringent regulations. Be sure to contact your local waste collection agency for specific requirements. Put the CFL in a plastic zipper bag to prevent any mercury from leaking if it breaks during transportation. Don’t pack multiple CFLs in the same bag, as this will increase the chance of them breaking. You can take your CFLs to antifreeze, batteries, oil, paint (ABOP) facility or household hazardous waste event.

For more information, visit
https://www.epa.gov/cfl/recycling-and-disposal-cfls-and-other-bulbs-contain-mercury 

LEDs

LEDs do not contain hazardous chemicals so it’s safe to throw them in the trash or recycle them at your local hardware. It’s also a good idea to contact your recycling company to see if they will accept your LEDs.

Halogen Bulbs

You can safely dispose of halogen bulbs along with your regular household trash, or contact your local recycling center to see if they accept halogen bulbs.