Ecologist
10th March
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The majority of local authorities in London are advising residents to throw compact fluorescent lightbulbs in their general waste, despite the hazard posed by their mercury content.
The Ecologist telephoned the call centres of each London Borough and asked whether energy saving bulbs had to be taken to a special recycling centre, or whether they could be placed in with normal refuse.
Seventy-five per cent of Boroughs said that CFLs can just be thrown away with regular garbage.
This is despite the fact that each Borough contains, or has access to, a waste disposal site capable of recycling energy saving bulbs and other hazardous electrical items.
Ecologist
CFLs last up to 15 times longer than normal light bulbs and use a third of the energy of an equivalent filament lamp. However, each bulb contains a tiny amount of mercury that can be an environmental hazard if not disposed of properly.
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