How to Recycle Lighting
Bulbs, tubes, string lights, and exit fixtures. Mercury lamps need recycling drop-off; plain glass bulbs usually go in the trash; LEDs can be trashed or recycled as e-waste.
LED Bulbs
CFL Bulbs
Fluorescent Tubes
Halogen Bulbs
Incandescent Bulbs
High-Intensity Discharge (HID) Lamps
Neon and Argon Lights
Holiday and String Lights
LED Strip Lights
Emergency and Exit Lighting
Lighting recycling overview
Lighting breaks into three disposal stories. Mercury lamps (CFLs, fluorescent tubes, HID, and most neon other than pure red) are federal universal waste lamps under 40 CFR 273 when they are hazardous waste, and California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington ban them from landfills. Take them unbroken to Home Depot or Lowe's for many CFLs, Batteries Plus for a wider mix including tubes and HID, an HHW facility, or a lamp recycler. Incandescent and halogen bulbs contain no mercury; Home Depot's consumer guidance says they can go in household trash, and recycling programs rarely accept them. LEDs also contain no mercury and can legally go in the trash, though recycling recovers the heat sink and board when a drop-off takes them. Holiday string lights and LED strips tangle curbside sorting equipment, so use e-waste or scrap channels instead. Exit and emergency units often hold NiCd or sealed lead-acid batteries; self-luminous tritium exit signs are a separate NRC-regulated radioactive product and never go in ordinary trash.
Common items
- • LED bulbs and fixtures
- • Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs)
- • Fluorescent tubes and magnetic ballasts
- • Halogen and incandescent bulbs
- • Holiday and string lights
- • Neon and argon tubes
- • HID and metal halide lamps
- • LED strip lights
- • Exit signs and emergency lights
- • UV and specialty bulbs
Before drop-off
- 1. Keep mercury lamps unbroken; if one breaks, air the room 5-10 minutes per EPA, scoop with stiff paper (no vacuum), and seal debris
- 2. Prefer Batteries Plus for mixed loads that include tubes or HID
- 3. Use Home Depot or Lowe's for many intact CFLs; call ahead for tubes
- 4. Treat pre-1979 magnetic T12 ballasts as possible PCB waste under 40 CFR 761
- 5. Never put string lights or LED strips in curbside recycling
- 6. Check exit signs for a radioactive-materials label before treating them as ordinary e-waste
Environmental benefits
- • Mercury lamp recycling keeps CFLs (~4 mg Hg), tubes (often 5-15 mg, older high-output higher), and HID lamps out of landfill ash and soil
- • Six states ban mercury-containing lamps from landfills: California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington (EPA)
- • LEDs contain no mercury; recycling still recovers aluminum heat sinks and circuit boards
- • Keeping string lights out of curbside bins prevents tangles that shut down sorting lines
Practical and economic benefits
- • Batteries Plus accepts the widest retail mix found in research: LED, CFL, fluorescent tubes, halogen, incandescent, and HID
- • Home Depot runs free in-store CFL recycling for intact bulbs
- • Incandescent holiday strands hold modest copper scrap value when not landfilled
- • Switching burnouts to LEDs cuts replacement frequency and energy use
Local rules vary
Landfill bans for mercury lamps apply in California, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Washington. Retail take-back varies by store: Ace CFL drop-off is franchise-by-franchise, and Home Depot tube acceptance is uneven. Maine, Maryland, and Vermont also list ballasts as state universal waste, which the federal lamp definition does not. Use Earth911 or your county HHW page for local rules.
Find lighting recycling centers
Search recycling centers by city or ZIP, then call ahead to confirm they take lighting.