Management of Waste Spent Light Tubes and Bulbs Management of Waste Spent Light Tubes and Bulbs I. General A. Waste lamps and bulbs are regulated as hazardous wastesbecause they contain toxic heavy metals. Waste lamps thatare toxic and aren't recycled are subject to hazardous waste regulations. Household wastes are exempted from hazardous waste rules. It isillegal to represent waste as being generated from a source other than theactual generator. When replacing a regulated lamp or bulb, make every effort to avoidbreaking the units.
Broken units are much more costly to recyclethan intact units.
Store the spent unit in a safe container with other spent units of the same type for later collection. When you have accumulated several spent units and or are unable tostore more spent units safely where they won't be broken, notifyyour supervisor so the units can be transferred to the hazardouswaste accumulation facility. Place broken lamp pieces into a clean, hard, impenetrable, coveredcontainer such as a plastic pail. When the broken lamp containers are full or arebecoming difficult for you to store safely, notify your supervisor fortransporting the debris to the hazardous waste accumulation facility. For Academic or other departments which replace equipmentbulbs in-house on an occasional basis.