As part of the recycling pilot program that will run for an initial one-year period, Waste Management will provide Rolling Hills Estates customers with a specially designed Mercury VaporLok container, which can hold up to thirteen CFLs and can be used to both store and transport discarded CFLs.
Residents can schedule a free pickup of these containers in which they can place used, unbroken CFLs and reseal the bag. Waste Management will deliver a new container on the next scheduled pick-up day.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency estimation, with every US household replacing one incandescent bulb with a CFL, the country would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes and save more than $600m in energy costs annually.
Therefore, through this recycling program which will make disposal and recycling of CFLs easier, the company hopes to drive more Rolling Hills Estates residents towards the adoption of CFLs, which are claimed to use one-quarter of the energy of traditional incandescent bulbs.
Moreover, California law encourages the recycling of CFLs that contain small amounts of mercury to protect public health and the environment.
Vickie Wippel, community relations manager of Waste Management, said: “Now that we’ve made recycling CFLs easier than ever, I hope more and more Rolling Hills Estates residents will start using them and incorporate another sustainable practice into their daily lives.”
