Safety & Recycling of CFL Bulbs and other Fluorescent Lights

CFLs contain a very small amount of mercury sealed within the glass tubing – an average of 4 milligrams – which is about the size of the period at the end of this sentence. For comparison, a watch battery contains about 25mg of mercury; enough to fill 5 CFLs; a cell phone contains even more! If you have an old, Mercury thermometer, it contains about 500 milligrams of mercury – an amount equal to the mercury in 125 CFLs.

The mercury in CFL’s is sealed inside the glass tubing. No mercury is released when the bulbs are intact (not broken) or in use.  When CFL’s are broken, there are specific steps to take for safe disposal and clean up. Please refer to instructions in this PDF from the Energy Star program.

Recycle at a Lamp Exchange Event!

We recycle used CFL bulbs courtesy of Sunpark. Bring your used CFL bulbs to any Lamp Exchange event and drop them off in the Sunpark Recycle Box for safe disposal. CFL bulbs only, no fluorescent tubes.

More Information:
Download the CFL & Mercury FAQ from SCE

Download the CFL Fact Sheet from SCE