# Recycling light bulbs?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-light-bulbs/651185>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 23, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-light-bulbs/651185 "2013-02-23T19:09:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mdcastle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@Mdcastle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mdcastle)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-light-bulbs/651185/1 "2013-02-23T19:09:43Z")

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I throw away a lot of incandescent light bulbs. The thought occured to me that there’s a lot of glass that gets thrown away. Is there some reason it’s not usual to recycle them, as opposed to glass bottles and such where they usually are recyclable?

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**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-light-bulbs/651185/2 "2013-02-23T20:15:04Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Incandescent bulbs are not practical to recycle. There is not enough recyclable material in an incandescent bulb.

> **[How do you dispose CFL light bulbs? - Answers](https://www.answers.com/art-and-architecture/How_do_you_dispose_CFL_light_bulbs)**
>
> AnswerIncandescent bulbs contain lead. Contact your local garbage or recycling facility to ask about their disposal methods, whether or not they will pick them up for your house or if you have to drop them off. Store them in the packaging you...

I ran several searches and this one is the predominant theme.

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**Author:** ![dstarfire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dstarfire/32/5762_2.png) [@dstarfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dstarfire)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-light-bulbs/651185/3 "2013-02-23T20:22:54Z")

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LIghtbulbs are far too fragile for the automated machinery used by modern recycling facilities. Also, they contain inseparable bits of metal (two different types of metal, no less) and paint. They’d have to be handled separately from the other glass and required specalized machinery to separate the glass and metal bits

Glass bottles are actually pretty easy to process. They’re relatively durable, generally come in one of three colors (clear, brown or green), and include a limited array of contaminants, most easily sprayed off with hot water.

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**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\
**Post date:** [February 23, 2013, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recycling-light-bulbs/651185/4 "2013-02-23T20:24:19Z")

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I guess it isn’t practical to separate the materials for the small amount of glass they contain, although I suppose you could break the bulb and collect the glass (the base is usually aluminum and could be recycled too, also a bit of glass insulating the bottom contact from the base, note that the center contact has lead solder).

Incidentally, the EPA calls incandescents “[hazardous waste](http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/wastetypes/universal/merc-emi/merc-pgs/vol-1/unwas2.pdf)” (PDF) due to the use of lead solder (in the center contact) and leaded glass, which could be problematic for recycling (not sure what is done with leaded glass):

> [@](#):
>
> Typically, all incandescent lamps are constructed of lead soldered bases (95  
> percent lead in solder) and flare glass (20 percent lead in glass).

(the same PDF suggests setting up a special recycling system for them)

Kind of interesting actually - CFLs may actually be less toxic overall, depending on the relative toxicities of lead and mercury (of course, they can also have lead in solder, aside from the glass, which may or may not have lead in it, although lead-free solder is common now, and indeed banned/restricted in areas like the EU with many products sold elsewhere being lead free due to global commerce/concern for the environment/etc).