Disposal of old lamps

Disposal of old lamps and electronic control gear
Disposal of incandescent lampsIncandescent lamps consist of glass and metal. They do not contain any materials that will harm the environment so they can be simply thrown away with the household refuse. They should not be placed in containers for recycled glass, however, because the glass used for these lamps is not the same as the glass used for bottles. Tungsten-halogen lamps contain very small quantities of halogens and halogen-hydrogen compounds, but the amounts are insignificant (only a few millionths of a gram). Even several lamps together do not present any risk to people or the environment. The lamps can therefore be thrown away with household waste.Disposal of discharge lampsFluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps, high pressure mercury, sodium and metal halide lamps all contain small quantities of mercury.These lamps can be recycled and the mercury recovered, but they can also be disposed of to special land-fill sites for mercury containing waste (seek advice from the Environment department of the local authority)Electronic control gearECGs do not contain any material that will harm the environment but they do contain recycable electronic components so they should be disposed of as electronic waste.