Light bulbs

What items can we take?

This category includes all kinds of household light bulbs.

LEDs

CFLs

Incandescent

Halogen

Flood light bulbs

LED, fluorescent, halogen, etc.

What isn’t in this category?

Fluorescent light tubes

We can take these as part of our add-on service!

Broken light bulbs

For our team members' safety, we can't accept broken light bulbs

Light bulbs.

Light bulbs come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, lumens, and types, the most common being LEDs, incandescents, fluorescents, and CFLs.

CFLs contain mercury and so are collected by the state for recycling. But we can take all types to make sure you get rid of stuff the right way.

Why use Ridwell?

It has been estimated that nationwide only about 25% of the 680 million lights discarded each year are recycled. The remainder is disposed of in solid waste landfills and incinerators, posing a threat to human health and the environment.

CFLs (the curly ones) have mercury in them, so they especially need to be disposed of responsibly! We make it easy to make sure your CFLs - and the rest of your household bulbs - are properly recycled. Just put them in your light bulb bag and we'll take care of the rest. We collect your spent light bulbs and our partner separates the metal, glass, and plastic for further materials recycling.

If you have light bulbs that are still good but you don't need anymore, try your local Buy Nothing group for reuse in the community!

Partnering with Ecolights

EcoLights NW began in 1996 in Seattle, WA with a small dedicated team focused on the proper end of life handling of fluorescent and other light bulbs, lighting ballasts, and batteries of all chemistries and types. Their mission is to recycle as much of the resources in these materials as reasonably possible so that it can be reused in the circular economy, and to prevent the toxic components from being released to the environment.