Recycling Convenience Centers Now Accepting Compact and Tubular Fluorescent Light Bulbs

7/24/2008

Recycling Convenience Centers Now Accepting Compact and Tubular Fluorescent Light Bulbs

City Helping to Keep Hazardous Mercury Out of Environment

Chattanooga, Tennessee – The City of Chattanooga announced today the expansion of its commitment to the environment by offering tubular and compact fluorescent bulb recycling at the following City recycling convenience centers: Warner Park, John A. Patten Recreation Center and Access Road at DuPont Parkway.

“More than 670 million mercury-containing bulbs are put in landfills across the country each year,” says Mayor Ron Littlefield.  “These bulbs are more energy efficient than standard light bulbs; however, when they are discarded, many break and put mercury into our environment.  I encourage all citizens of Chattanooga to bring their fluorescent light bulbs to convenience centers so that they are kept out of our landfill and properly disposed.”

All tubular and compact fluorescent bulbs four feet long and shorter are collected at these centers.  Broken bulbs will not be accepted.  They will be dry-stored inside the buildings at the convenience centers and then taken to a hazardous waste disposal site.

The convenience centers are located at: Warner Park, 1250 E. 3rd Street; John A. Patten Recreation Center, 3202 Kelly’s Ferry Rd.; Access Road at DuPont Parkway, 4500 N. Access Rd.; and the East Brainerd Baseball Complex at the end of Batter’s Place Road (this center does not currently accept fluorescent light bulbs).  Operating hours for all centers are: Monday-Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and Sunday: 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The following items can be recycled at Chattanooga convenience centers: cardboard, newspaper, all paper grades, plastic #1 and #2 bottles with a neck, aluminum cans, rinsed out steel cans, glass bottles (brown, green and clear), used motor oil, cell phones, calculators, computers, printers, palm pilots, VCR and DVD players, land phones, laptops and other small electronics (no televisions or microwaves).  Old batteries (wet and dry cell) can be turned in at any Chattanooga convenience center so that they may be properly disposed.

Clear guidelines for both curbside recycling and recycling at convenience centers are available at www.recycleright.org.  The Web site also includes assistance in determining which Wednesday of the month is your curbside pickup day, sign-up for a pickup e-mail reminder, answers to frequently asked questions, a printable “Rocky the Recycling Raccoon” coloring page and more.