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Lighting: Recycling

Volume 479: debated on Monday 21 July 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance she has given to local authorities on providing recycling facilities for energy-saving light bulbs. (219580)

I have been asked to reply.

The Department has not issued specific advice to local authorities about the recycling of low energy light bulbs.

Compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs—the most common type of energy efficient bulbs) are covered by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. All local authorities in England are providing designated collection facilities for WEEE. Information about which sites take back CFLs (and other types of WEEE) is available on the recycle-more website.

Once CFLs have been collected, producers of the equipment have responsibility to fund treatment and recycling.

The Department has published background information on CFLs—their benefits in terms of energy efficiency as well as advice on their disposal at the end of their lives. This can be found on the DEFRA website.