Editing Compact fluorescent lamp (section)

=== Recycling ===
{{See also|Fluorescent lamp recycling}}
Health and environmental concerns about mercury have prompted many jurisdictions to require spent lamps to be properly disposed of or recycled, rather than being included in the general waste stream sent to landfills. Safe disposal requires storing the bulbs unbroken until they can be processed.

In the [[United States]], most states have adopted and currently implement the federal [[Hazardous waste in the United States#Universal wastes|Universal Waste Rule]] (UWR).<ref name="epa27" /> Several states, including [[Vermont]], [[New Hampshire]], [[California]], [[Minnesota]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Maine]], [[Connecticut]] and [[Rhode Island]], have regulations that are more stringent than the federal UWR.<ref name="epa27">{{cite web |url=http://www.epa.gov/waste/hazard/wastetypes/universal/lamps/faqs.htm#27 |title=How are mercury-containing bulbs (called "lamps" in the regulations) regulated? |date=10 May 2013 |publisher=[[United States Environmental Protection Agency]] |access-date=18 June 2013}}</ref> Home-supply [[chain store]]s make free CFL recycling widely available.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/business/24recycling.html?em&ex=1214625600&en=8ddbcb7023c75243&ei=5087%0A |access-date=18 June 2013 |title=Home Depot Offers Recycling for Compact Fluorescent Bulbs |date=24 June 2008 |last=Rosenbloom |first=Stephanie |work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>

In the [[European Union]], CFLs are one of many products subject to the [[Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive|WEEE]] recycling scheme. The [[Price|retail price]] includes an amount to pay for recycling, and manufacturers and importers have an obligation to collect and recycle CFLs.

According to the Northwest Compact Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Project, because household users in the U.S. Northwest have the option of disposing of these products in the same way they dispose of other solid waste, in Oregon "a large majority of household CFLs are going to municipal solid waste". They also note the EPA's estimates for the percentage of fluorescent lamps' total mercury released when they are disposed of in the following ways: municipal waste landfill 3.2%, recycling 3%, municipal waste incineration 17.55% and hazardous waste disposal 0.2%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zerowaste.org/cfl/IMAGES_A/phase_I_rpt.pdf |title=Compact Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Project Phase I Draft Report Background Research and Program Options |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927040257/http://www.zerowaste.org/cfl/IMAGES_A/phase_I_rpt.pdf |archive-date=2007-09-27}}</ref>

The first step of processing CFLs involves crushing the bulbs in a machine that uses negative pressure ventilation and a mercury-absorbing filter or [[cold trap]] to contain mercury vapor. Many municipalities are purchasing such machines.{{Citation needed|date=May 2011}} The crushed glass and metal is stored in drums, ready for shipping to recycling factories.