Fluorescent Bulbs and Tubes

Posted on June 20, 2011 by Dawn Quirk
The Facilities Department collects and recycles overhead tubes with Veolia Environmental. If you have a spent compact fluorescent bulb that was generated at Tufts, please contact us for pick-up.
We cannot recycle bulbs from outside of Tufts. The EPA page on bulb disposal provides a regularly updated comprehensive list of recycling centers and options around the nation where non-Tufts bulbs can be recycled.
These popular chain retailers will take your used CFLs at no cost to you:
  • Ace Hardware
  • The Home Depot
  • Ikea
  • True Value Hardware
  • Whole Foods Market

Fluorescent bulbs and tubes are Tufts Recycles! Approved! We strongly support the use of compact fluorescent bulbs and tubes because they are much more energy efficient than regular bulbs.

Although they have mercury in them, they actually help reduce more mercury emissions from power plants. Why? A substantial part of the electricity in MA is made by burning coal. Coal naturally contains mercury that is released when burned. Because fluorescent lamps use so much less electricity, the mercury that is in them is actually less than what would have been released into the air at the coal power plant if regular bulbs had been used. Learn more about energy efficiency, climate change and what Tufts is doing at http://sustainability.tufts.edu/.
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