T-12 4 ft Fluorescent Tube Disposal

[knuckle-dragger]

Right next to the bay where they sell new tubes, HD have a cover in plastic with one removable end cap. Its slightly bigger in diameter than the tube. You take off the removable end, slide the old tube in, replace the removable cap, put it over a garbage bin, hit the cover with a hammer, the tube shatters, take off the removable end, and finally pour the (by now tiny) shards of class into the bin. There seems to be a little smoke or maybe dust. You could put on a hazmat suit and a respirator if you're a real wuss. The garbage bin empties into a black bag which is compacted by the garbage truck together with hundreds of other peoples' garbage and goes (guess) to a landfill in some flyover state.

[gfretwell]

Compared to the haz mat that ends up in the trash, the tiny amount of mercury in a F-12 is not going to make much difference. Landfills are lined these days so stuff like this doesn't leach into the ground water.

[TimR]

I've heard of that, but.............have you actually tried it?

[Scott Lurndal]

Multiply by thousands of TxxFy bulbs and you're talking real hazards.

Landfills are

Please don't assume this, because it is not a correct statement.

Besides, it's a violation of the law in many localities to improperly dispose of hazardous waste.

[knuckle-dragger]

Of course. I was actually surprised at the question arising. I thought everybody did it that way. Many years ago I was disposing of tubes by taking a batch of them to the garbage truck (not in a bag) and the garbage guy told me that the problem was that they might shatter in their face but if I wanted to put them in the truck go ahead. Well that's a real risk so the next time I had a bunch I looked around for a solution, hence the cover.

I had a similar reaction to dumping out a batch of old paint cans containing paint residue. He said just put them in black bags and seal them up.

Similar for batteries (not lead acid). I actually carried some to the recycling bin at Lowes (or HD). My batteries were the only ones in the box. I kept an eye out and I NEVER saw anyone else put anything in the boxes.

[rbowman]

I bought a battery for the Mifi last year. iirc, the new battery was $29 and he wanted $20 to recycle the old one. Un-hunh...

I dropped a lead acid off at the recyclers and was pleasantly surprised when they gave me money instead of vice versa. There's money in them. When i was trucking I hauled more than one load of dead batteries from Denver to LA. The reasoning escapes me but I never argued. Leaking junk batteries are not HazMat so you can go through the tunnel. Pristine new batteries are so you have to go over the mountain goat trail.

[gfretwell]

I put them in an empty 30 gallon can and break the bottom off with a

2x4 about 6 feet long (a rake or whatever I have handy) with the top on sitting on the other end.. The rest falls in the can.

[gfretwell]

That is far from the largest source of mercury and I am not disposing of "Thousands" of these things. It is more like 2 every couple of years. I get rid of a lot more batteries and they tell us to just put them in the trash. When I had a way of getting them to a haz mat place, like when my wife was running a big HOA, I put them with the hazmat. I just think driving my car 50 miles to and from the haz mat place might be worse for the environment than a milligram or two of mercury in the landfill.

[rbowman]

In this area a little mercury in a landfill is small potatoes compared to the problems caused by copper, gold, and asbestos mines. Fish & Wildlife advise you not to eat pike out of the Clark Fork but that goes back to the mines at Butte 100 years ago.

[Scott Lurndal]

Of course, it's all about you. How many other people live in the country that take your advice?

It adds up.

As pointed out most hardware stores (ACE, HD, Lowes) will take them.

[Transition Zone]

Nice to know.