The Problem
While HID (high-intensity discharge) and fluorescent light bulbs help to conserve energy, they also contain mercury…a potentially lethal environmental pollutant and health risk.

Accordingly, the State of Minnesota now mandates that all such light bulbs must be recycled for the good of the environment and as a benefit to your family’s well-being.

The Solution
Recycling is easy.  Simply contact your county’s household hazardous waste program for information on where to take used fluorescent and HID lamps.  To find their phone number and location, consult the hazardous waste page at:  www.pca.state.mn.us/waste/hhw/index.html

The Benefit
The mercury, glass and metal from recycled lamps can be reused to make fluorescent light bulbs and other products.

Handle With Care
Be careful when handling and transporting HID and fluorescent lights.  Don’t drop or handle them roughly.  If they break, the mercury will be released.

It’s best to transport them in the trunk, but be sure there are no heavy objects nearby that could roll over and break the glass.  Also, just to be on the safe side, first place them in sealable heavy-duty plastic bags.

Cleaning Up a Broken Fluorescent Bulb

When a fluorescent bulb breaks, about 20% of the mercury immediately vaporizes, and that’s the greatest inherent health risk.

So if you break one, keep pets and family members out of the room.   Open the windows and exterior doors for about 15 minutes before you attempt to pick up the broken glass.

Then follow these clean-up steps:

1. Wearing disposable rubber or plastic gloves, carefully scoop up the glass shards and as much powder as possible with one or two pieces of stiff paper or cardboard. 
2. Wipe the area with a damp paper towel or a disposable wet wipe to pick up any very small shards and the powder residue.  Sticky tape can also be used.
3. Place all the glass shards, powder and clean-up material in a sealable plastic bag.  Then place that bag inside another and store it in a safe and remote location until it can be taken to the county recycling center.
4. Wash your hands.
5. And finally, vacuum the area and vent the room one more time once you’re done.  Place the vacuum bag with its contents in a double-sealed plastic bag and include it with the normal trash.

Cleaning Up a Broken HID Lamp

High-intensity discharge lamps are often used outdoors for security lighting purposes.  These contain more mercury than fluorescents.  The mercury is sealed in a glass or quartz capsule that has wire leads.  This capsule is protected by an outer glass covering.

1. If the lamp breaks but the inner capsule remains intact, double-seal it in plastic bags and take it to your county recycling center.
2. If the inner capsule breaks and mercury has worked its way to the ground, the mercury can’t be recovered.  In such a case, just pick up the pieces of the lamp and put them in with your regular trash.
3. If the capsule has broken on a hard surface, wear disposable plastic or rubber gloves to pick up the shards and wipe up the mercury with a damp cloth or tape.  Then place everything, including the cleaning materials, in two layers of sealable plastic bags and take them to the recycling center.

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