Waste lamps or light bulbs could harm human health and the environment if not properly handled. State hazardous waste regulations prohibit businesses and institutions from disposing of waste lamps in landfills if the lamps contain heavy metals that exceed hazardous waste regulatory limits.
Lamps that can be managed as universal waste include:
- Fluorescent lamps (tube style),
- Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs),
- Mercury vapor lamps,
- Metal halide lamps,
- High-pressure sodium-vapor lamps,
- Ultraviolet lamps,
- Neon lights,
- Black lights,
- LED lamps.
Broken lamps or bulbs must be cleaned up carefully. Avoid inhalation of the phosphor, use mechanical means to pick up broken glass, and put the collected broken glass in closed, leak-proof, non-metal containers (ideally plastic pail) and handled as hazardous waste.
Label it 'Broken Glass' and deliver it with other boxes or bins.
Collection in Advance
Separate bulbs and lamps by size. Put in size and type appropriate containers.
Label each box with "Universal Waste Lamps Label." (right column on this page).
Mark the number and type of bulbs or lamps in each box and date the label.
Lamps cannot be mixed in the same box. Bulbs are of various shapes and sizes, and lamps come in 2, 4 foot and 8 foot lengths. Bulbs that can be mixed (co-mingled) in boxes, including the High-Intensity Discharge Bulbs, Incandescent Bulbs, and Compact Fluorescent Bulbs in the same box. Do not however put 4' tubes in with 8' tubes or other HIDs or CFBs. Separate by type and size when at all possible.
Ballasts should be put in a container that will allow safe transportation, for example, a plastic pail. Larger containers can be used as long as they are sufficient for the weight.
Delivery-Pick up-Shipment
On the morning of shipment, boxes, bins and containers should be brought to the M&M building's east dock to the Hazardous Waste Work Lab, Room 174 by 8 a.m.
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