FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Fluorescent Light Recycling

There are now two Kitsap County-operated facilities accepting fluorescent lights for recycling from residential customers.

Used 4-foot fluorescent tubes and compact fluorescent bulbs are accepted at the Poulsbo Recycle Center on Viking Way. Customers may bring up to 10 tubes or bulbs per month. There is no fee for recycling them.

“By providing proper management of these fluorescent lights at the Poulsbo Recycle Center, we hope to reduce the amount of mercury entering the environment, ” says Rick Gilbert, supervisor of the Kitsap County Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Facility, where the lights are transferred before recycling. “Residents are becoming more aware that fluorescent tubes don’t go in the garbage, but we are still on a learning curve about the compact fluorescent bulbs. Because fluorescent lights last for several years, they are just now entering the waste stream. These contain a small amount of mercury and need to be properly recycled.”

Residents of Kitsap and Mason counties with more than 10 lights or tubes longer than 4 feet should take them to the HHW Collection Facility at 5551 SW Imperial Way, in the Olympic View Industrial Park across from Bremerton National Airport on Highway 3. Hours for residential customers are Thursday through Saturday, from 10 am to 4 pm. There is no charge for residential customers.

Businesses that qualify as Small Quantity Generators (SQGs) should call The Open Line at 360-337-5777 for more information or to make an appointment. 

Tips for safely transporting tubes and bulbs includes keeping them in their original box if possible, avoid taping them together, and cushion them to prevent breakage.

Additional information available online:

• Household Hazardous Waste Collection Facility: www.kitsapgov.com/sw/modwaste.htm
  
  
• Small Quantity Generator Information:
  www.kitsapgov.com/sw/sqg.htm
  
  
• Mercury Information:
  www.kitsapgov.com/sw/mercury.htm
  
  
• Kitsap County’s Online Recycle Listings:
  www.kitsapgov.com/sw/recycle.asp

Kitsap County Public Works
The Open Line
(360) 337-5777 or (800) 825-4940
openline@co.kitsap.wa.us