New banks in place to recycle energy-saving bulbs
East Devon residents can now recycle their energy-saving light bulbs thanks to a partnership between the district council, town councils and recycling specialists Recolight.
New bulb banks have been installed at the following locations across the district:-
- Axminster Town Council, The Guildhall, West Street, Axminster, EX13 5NX
- Budleigh Salterton Town Council, Station Road, Budleigh Salterton, EX9 6RJ
- East Devon Business Centre, Heathpark Way, Heathpark, Honiton, EX14 1SF
- East Devon District Council, The Knowle, Sidmouth EX10 8HL
- Exmouth Town Council, Town Hall, Exmouth EX8 1AW
- Honiton Town Council, Council Offices, New Street, Honiton, EX14 1EY
- Sidmouth Town Council, Woolcombe House, Sidmouth, EX10 9BB
The opening times of the sites will vary so residents are advised to check before bringing in their bulbs.
The Recolight Bulbstore Mini is a bank that takes about 80 low-energy bulbs. When full the bulbs are transferred to a larger storage container, not in a public area, ready for collection. To minimise packaging waste the Bulbstore Mini has been designed to be reusable and is itself recyclable.
Energy-saving light bulbs do need to be recycled with care and cannot be placed in the ordinary household recycling. This is due to the mercury used in their creation and because they are considered electrical appliances and therefore subject to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations.
This hasn't been a problem before because they last so long. It is only now that some are finally reaching the end of their lives that a recycling solution has been needed.
Recolight is the UK's specialists in lamp recycling making sure that WEEE regulations are complied with. To date they have funded the recycling of over 175 million lamps, which has prevented over 700kg of mercury from entering landfill. More information is available at http://www.recolight.co.uk
