Do light bulbs go in your bin?

Recycling Light Bulbs

A few people have been asking about what to do with light bulbs - James Thompson from Shropshire Council sent over this advice:
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Incandescent

 
Incandescent light bulbs should be disposed of in normal household waste. They can't be recycled like regular glass as the fine wires are very difficult to separate out in processing.

Compact Fluorescent Lamp

Compact fluorescent lamps are energy saving light bulbs and do not belong in the rubbish bin. They contain small amounts of mercury. Although this is completely safe for users of the lamps, they must be collected separately for disposal.

This ensures that valuable parts of the lamps, such as glass and metal, are not lost. The energy saving lamps can be disposed of for free at your local Council or other collection points.

Halogen

Halogen Light bulbs should be disposed of in normal household waste. They can't be recycled like regular glass as the fine wires are very difficult to separate out in processing.

Metal Halide

HID lamps are energy saving light bulbs and don't belong in the rubbish bin. They contain small amounts of mercury. Although this is completely safe for users of the lamps, they must be collected separately for disposal. Furthermore, it ensures that valuable parts of the lamps, such as glass and metal, aren't lost.

The energy saving lamps can be disposed of for free at your local Council or other collection points.

Light-Emitting Diode (LED)

LEDs don't contain harmful substances. They have an extremely long service life and are virtually maintenance free.

You should look for the disposal rules that apply to the equipment in which they're incorporated. Individual LEDs can be disposed of in household waste.

Fluorescent Tube

Fluorescent lamps are energy saving and don't belong in the rubbish bin. They contain small amounts of mercury. Although this is completely safe for users of the lamps, they must be collected separately for disposal. Furthermore, it ensures that valuable parts of the lamps, such as glass and metal, aren't lost.

The energy saving lamps can be disposed of for free at your local Council or other collection points.

Neon

Neon lamps are energy-saving bulbs that don't belong in the rubbish bin. They must be collected separately for disposal. Furthermore, it ensures that valuable parts of the lamps, such as glass and metal, aren't lost.

The energy saving lamps can be disposed of for free at your local Council or other collection points.

So I guess the upshot is - you get less waste in landfill if you use low energy bulbs, and use LED and fluorescent when you can as they last and last and last .........

I was in B and Q the other day and found the staff in the lighting department to be really helpful - so if in doubt go and ask them

Bin research

Hello

I was passing Morrisons in Shrewsbury the other day so I hung a left and swung by the recycling banks - great to find a cardboard bank there as well as paper and glass - you can also recycle small electrical items, books, dvds and clothes at the banks - but non-wearable textiles should be taken to a charity shop to be sold as rags or put in the Oxfam clothes banks where all textiles are recycled.

On the way into the shop is my favourite recycling bin - the stretchy plastic bin - it says recycle your plastic bags here and it refers to way more than just your regular carrier bags - you can put all your wrap from toilet rolls, cereal packets, fruit packaging in there.

The Rubbish Diet is taken up by a street in Shrewsbury

The Rubbish diet has been taken to a new level this week with a street deciding to take on the rubbish diet challenge. 10 households on Ashley Street in Shrewsbury are planning to slim their bins together. The big weigh-in is next Wednesday the day before bin day. Then they will spend the next 8 weeks trying to produce less and less rubbish by following the Rubbish Diet. This process really works and helps you to get to grips with what you can and can't recycle, it helps you save money because you get really good at not wasting food. On average each household reduces waste by 50%. Slimming bins together is great fun - it is fascinating to find out how little rubbish we need to produce. The bin doesn't smell anymore because the foodwaste has gone, the wheelie bin is never more than half full so no need to panic when you are lying in bed and hear the bin lorry coming down the street!! Now the families in Ashley street are not just doing the rubbish diet - they have also set up a rota to share trips to the HRC or bring banks for all the cardboard, tetrapak, batteries and rags which don't get picked up by the council. So under their new regime, each family will only have to make the trip once every 10 weeks now - so they are saving time and money and the planet! by recycling together! If you think your household, your street or your friends might like to take up the rubbish diet challenge or would just like some bags to collect cardboard and tetrapak please give me a shout on 07972 858313 or alison.thomas08@gmail.com - we have a new diet starting at the beginning of April 2013.

Cardboard Christmas in Shrewsbury and Ludlow

Transition Town Shrewsbury are doing Cardboard Christmas again! The Cardboard bring banks in town wont cope over Christmas and not everyone can trek up to the HRC Please hang onto your Christmas Cardboard and bring it to one of our cardboard collection points: United Reform Church, Abbey foregate, Red Barn Pub, Longden road, Spar Precinct, Castlefields and Riversway Church, Lancaster road. Sites will be operating between 9am and 2pm on Saturday 5th January 2013. Please don’t landfill your cardboard – bring it to us! All proceeds will go to Severn Hospice, Hope House and Friendly Neighbours. For more information phone Ali on 07972 858313 or email alison.thomas08@gmail.com If you would like to collect on your street give us a ring or if you are uinable to reach any of the cardbaord collection point – we can give you bags and collect from you. If you would like to volunteer on the day – give us a shout – all welcome!

InSinkerators for food waste means zero collection cost

From the Shropshire waste blog: Shrewsbury sinks food waste An national study has been launched in Shrewsbury with funding from the Local Government Association. The project will investigate the impact of Food Waste Disposers which are being fitted in the new David Wilson Homes development, Riverside Meadows, on the site of the old Shrewsbury Town football stadium. Philippa Roberts from local environmental consultants Low and Behold who are managing the project explained, “Waste water treatment works like the one in Shrewsbury use Anaerobic Digestion to process their sewage. This same technology can be used to process food waste; producing renewable energy in the process.” The Food Waste Disposers supplied by Insinkerator UK are electrically powered units which are plumbed into kitchen sinks. They grind food waste into tiny particles which can then simply wash down the sink. This will enable the residents to send their food waste for anaerobic digestion without the need for it to be collected. As well as making it hygenic and easy for the residents to cut down on what goes in their bins, this project will also help to produce renewable energy, reduce waste to landfill and thus potentially make huge financial sense. The Council spends millions of pounds of taxpayers money collecting and disposing of waste each year and with around one-fifth of all domestic waste being food waste it makes sense to look at all available options to tackle this. In particular in flats, waste storage and collection can be difficult and some dont have access to a garden for home composting so food waste will generally go in the bin and end up going to landfill. This project is providing alternative means of managing this food waste which can be more sustainable, more cost-effective and simpler for the residents. It will be really interesting to see how this study goes - I imagine bones might cause a few problems in the grinder. can anyone join in?