Bertie Bulb, the ‘low-energy light bulb on a high energy mission to recycle’ visited Harrogate to raise awareness of the importance of recycling low-energy light bulbs.
Visiting the Homebase store in Plumpton Park in Harrogate, Bertie was joined by staff members Sarah Alexandra, Joe Silver, Carl Poucher & Ellie Smith.
Homebase, one of the UK’s leading home improvement retailers, has signed an agreement with specialist recycling scheme Recolight to provide in-store collection facilities for low-energy light bulb recycling.
Homebase is one of a number of partnerships that Recolight has established with retailers and local authorities, with the aim of making recycling low-energy light bulbs easier and more convenient. Homebase Harrogate is one of 320 Homebase stores nationwide offering this collection service to customers, adding to Recolight’s existing facilities at Sainsbury’s and Robert Dyas stores. Customers in Harrogate can now dispose of their old low-energy light bulbs safely and conveniently, knowing that all the bulbs collected will be sent for recycling at approved treatment facilities.
Bertie Bulb, Sarah Alexandra, Joe Silver, Carl Poucher & Ellie Smith
Recolight is also working with a number of local authorities with the aim of providing many more convenient collection points, to add to the 1,100 civic amenity sites across the country. The new collection points available through Recolight’s retail and local authority partners will give consumers a wider range of options to make recycling low-energy light bulbs as easy as possible.
In accordance with the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) Regulations, all low-energy light bulbs need to be recycled when they reach end- of-life. As traditional light bulbs are gradually phased out, low-energy versions will become more common in homes, and as they contain a small amount of mercury to produce light efficiently, they can be harmful to the environment if sent to landfill.
Recolight also provides a community-based scheme called the Community Bulb Recycling Alliance (CoBRA), which allows community centres, parish groups or green-thinking individuals to take responsibility for collecting used low-energy light bulbs in their local area, before taking them to a central point for collection and responsible recycling. As part of the collaboration with Homebase, volunteers collecting light bulbs in their community under this scheme will also be able to use Homebase stores as drop off points, further improving facilities for low-energy light bulb recycling.
