Now, recycle your burnt-out CFL bulbs in Dubai

Alfalasi shows the vapour-lock foil bags and trash cans at DM headquarters on Wednesday.- Photo by Sajila Saseendran

Most people discard their burnt-out fluorescent bulbs just like any other common waste, risking safety to humans and damage to the environment from mercury in such lamps.
Dubai residents will soon have an easy option for safely disposing and recycling Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) that are widely used in the emirate's buildings.
The Dubai Municipality is rolling out a campaign today to collect and recycle CFL bulbs, marking World Energy Day.
The civic body has tied up with a private firm for the environment department's initiative, which will be inaugurated by the Director-General of Dubai Municipality, Hussain Nasser Lootah.
The company, Lamps 4U, will provide custom-made vapour-lock foil bags and trash cans to collect the burnt-out bulbs and recycle them at its plant to make more energy saving bulbs, officials said.
"All fluorescent lamps contain mercury, which is a toxic material. It must be handled carefully and properly recycled," said the director of the department, Aliya Al Harmoudi.
Tasnim Salem Alfalasi, head of Environmental Awareness Section, said some 5,000 vapour-lock bags were distributed to municipality employees to encourage them to dispose the old fluorescent bulbs. Five hundred more bags will be distributed to the public and visitors to the municipality today.
"We are in talks with hypermarkets and supermarkets to keep the custom-made trash cans where the public can dispose such lamps," Alfalasi said.
The foil bags can safely hold up to four 13W or up to three 23W CFL bulbs and contain an absorbent pad. "Both these bags and the trash cans can lock the mercury vapour from broken bulbs. The trash cans also have an alert system that informs the company when they are full," she said.
A list of places where the public can discard the CFL bulbs will be uploaded later on the website lampswithbenefits.ae
sajila@khaleejtimes.com