Since the hazardous waste regulations came into force in July 2005 fluorescent tubes have been classified as hazardous waste and must be disposed of accordingly. Simply disposing of your spent tubes within your general waste container is no longer an option. All fluorescent tubes collected are taken to fully licensed facilities where they are crushed and separated into the different materials which make up the tubes – glass, metal or plastic end caps and mercury bearing phosphor powder. These materials can then be recycled.
