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County to mandate light recycling

Whatcom County residents will likely be required to more carefully dispose of electronics, computer monitors and compact fluorescent light bulbs, following a decision by the Whatcom County Council last week.
In their regular meeting July 10, council members unanimously passed a resolution outlining their intent to require recycling of all electronics and mercury- containing products in the community.

“As a community we are enjoying some success at converting our home lighting to energy saving fluorescent bulbs, now we need to take the next step in safely disposing of those bulbs as well as outdated or broken televisions and computer equipment,” said Christina Reeves, a Whatcom County conservation resource analyst. “Electronics and fluorescent bulbs contain chemicals that are potentially harmful to the environment; we want to ensure that they will not be just dumped in the garbage.”

The rule would require Whatcom County households to recycle burned-out fluorescent-tube lighting and compact fluorescent bulbs, as well as other household electronics such as monitors, laptop computers and televisions. Businesses are already required to recycle fluorescent bulbs.

The move comes after a recently passed Washington state law will require electronic manufacturers to provide recycling services throughout the state at no cost to households, small businesses, small governments, charities and school districts.

The state of Oregon, where nearly half of Whatcom County’s solid waste is currently transported to, recently passed a similar bill that will ban the disposal of electronics by January 1, 2010.