Welcome To MercuryRecycle.com

We need to recycle our fluorescent light bulbs!

We are taking part in the Lexus Eco Challenge

            We are a group of 9th graders at Olympus Junior High, Utah.  Our goal is to get the word out that fluorescent light bulbs save a lot of energy and are better than incandescent light bulbs.  What most people don't know is that they contain an element called mercury.  Mercury is a dangerous element that can damage our environment.  Please help us save the environment by recycling your used fluorescent light bulbs at home depot or at a nearby recycling facility.

Facts about Mercury in the environment

• Most compact fluorescent lamps contain less than 5 milligrams of mercury.
• 7,000 tons/year of mercury is released annually from natural sources, primarily from volcanoes. Mercury is also released from forest fires.
• 6,000 tons/year of mercury is released from fossil-fuel power plant emissions, primarily from coal plants.
• 3,500 tons/year of mercury is released from sources like automobiles, natural gas furnaces, and municipal waste incinerators.
• EPA's highest estimate for lamp disposal mercury emissions is 2.5 tons/year.
• Fluorescent lamps make up approximately 3.5 percent of total landfill mercury. Most of this so called "landfill mercury" comes from mercury switches.
• 94-98 percent of the mercury in a spent fluorescent lamp is absorbed into the phosphor coating and glass wall of the lamp making it unavailable for human consumption only a trace amount of mercury remains in the spent lamp as a vapor.
• Installing fluorescent light bulbs reduces power plant generation causing a net reduction of mercury emissions to the environment, plus reductions in co2 & other emissions.
• A mercury thermometer contains 500-3,000 milligrams of mercury.