A lamp recycling program for every building you manage.

It is a recycling box you fill on site and ship back, with no truck visit. It suits buildings with small, steady volumes. USPS lamp bulletins call for intact lamps only, a start date on the box, and recycling within one year. PCB ballasts stay out of lamp kits.

Federally, businesses typically manage them as universal waste under 40 CFR Part 273. A used lamp becomes waste on the date it is discarded (273.5). From then it needs a closed, labeled container and can be stored no longer than one year. Several states also ban landfilling lamps.

In some states, yes. Six states, California and Minnesota among them, ban landfilling even household lamps. Federally, very small quantity generators may choose to manage lamps under Part 273 (40 CFR 273.8). If those lamps are mixed with regulated universal waste, all of it is regulated.

Start with a site list and rough counts. Set one storage spot per building with closed, labeled, dated containers. Decide who changes lamps and put the rule in vendor contracts. Then choose pickup or mail-back by volume. Our compliance guide covers each federal duty in detail.

Volume decides it. Missouri's state lamp guidance calls the prepaid service used for small shipments significantly more expensive than pallet-load service. Sites that fill pallets usually fit scheduled pickup, and sites with a few boxes a year suit mail-back. See how pricing works for the units used.

Use the record from each job. A certificate of recycling typically states the total weight received on a date. Enter those weights by site in ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager under "Lamps/Light Bulbs" or "Batteries", as recycled. Summed across sites, they show progress from one year to the next.

Yes. The federal threshold in 40 CFR 273.9 counts all universal waste held at any time. That means lamps, batteries, pesticides, mercury-containing equipment and aerosol cans combined. A site storing batteries next to its lamps adds both together. Our battery recycling page covers packing by chemistry.

The owner, site by site. ALMR's message to owners says "regulatory compliance remains the responsibility of the owner of the lamps". Large quantity handlers must keep shipment records for three years under 40 CFR 273.39. Filing every site the same way keeps any later review simple.

Often enough that no container at any site passes one year in storage, the federal limit in 40 CFR 273.15. Busy sites may need several pickups a year, and quiet ones a single visit. Setting a recurring schedule by site volume keeps every clock inside that window.

Yes. We collect fluorescent, CFL and HID lamps, ballasts and batteries, so one scheduled pickup can clear all three streams from a site. Keep each stream in its own container. We keep pre-1979 and unlabeled ballasts apart from the rest of the load, because they may contain PCBs.

Usually not. Business lamps are typically universal waste, and California, Minnesota, Washington, Maine, Massachusetts and Vermont ban landfilling lamps even from households. Write the rule into tenant and vendor contracts: spent lamps go whole to the site's labeled container. The owner remains responsible, according to ALMR.

Clean it up right away and seal the pieces in their own container. 40 CFR 273.13(d)(2) says to "immediately clean up and place in a container any lamp that is broken". Releases must be contained under 273.17. EPA's own cleanup page is written for homes, so follow your site procedure.