On Saturday, June 23, Wal-Mart stores, Supercenters and Sam’s Clubs across California, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and the Tulsa, Oklahoma region will host a fluorescent light bulb recycling day. The recycling events will offer consumers a free and convenient opportunity to drop-off and recycle their used compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) and fluorescent tubes. The bulbs will be collected at kiosks outside stores from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The CFL recycling events are being conducted in partnership with Waste Management’s WM LampTracker, Inc.

“Energy-efficient fluorescent light bulbs can be an important tool in the fight against global warming, but must be recycled properly,” said Linda Adams, California’s Secretary for Environmental Protection. “I applaud Wal-Mart and Waste Management for their leadership on this issue and look forward to many others following their lead. This is a sound example of sharing responsibility for reducing the environmental impacts of products sold in California.

CFLs contain a small amount of mercury and should be recycled just like batteries, computers, cell phones, thermostats and other household products. In May 2007, Wal-Mart announced a new standard to ensure that the CFLs sold in its stores and clubs contain less than 5 mg of mercury, an average reduction of 33 percent (for 13W bulbs). By reducing the amount of mercury placed into each bulb, Wal-Mart and its suppliers are preventing pollution at the source, and helping make CFLs safer and even more environmentally friendly. Wal-Mart is committed to selling efficient and affordable CFLs, and is well on its way in a campaign to sell 100 million bulbs by 2008.

“We always strive to provide our customers with affordable, environmentally friendly products, like energy-saving CFLs,” said Andy Ruben, Wal-Mart vice president of strategy and sustainability. “We want our customers to know that the bulbs sold in our stores are safe to use and that we’ve taken steps to significantly reduce the amount of mercury in our CFLs. Our recycling events are a great way for customers to dispose of their used bulbs and learn more about the environmental and cost-savings benefits of CFLs.”

CFLs are a safe, efficient lighting technology that consumers can use to save money, energy and time in their homes and businesses. In fact, the ENERGYSTAR-qualified CFLs sold in Wal-Mart stores and Sam’s Clubs last an average of five to seven years. Replacing just one conventional light bulb with a CFL can save up to $30 in electric costs, prevent more than 110 pounds of coal from being burned, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 450 pounds over the lifetime of the bulb. With the everyday low prices offered at Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, customers can recoup the cost of a CFL in as little as six months.

“As the largest recycler in North America, Waste Management is proud to be a part of helping consumers recycle CFLs and fluorescent lamps safely. It’s the right thing to do,” said Harry Lamberton, Waste Management’s Upstream vice president. “This project is a great way to share the benefits of WM LampTracker, now enjoyed by our commercial customers, with Wal-Mart’s customers, including our safe and simple method for collecting, storing and shipping bulbs in our uniquely engineered packaging.”

Walmart officials have said that each store will accept unlimited numbers of compact fluorescent lightbulbs at each participating location. However, there will be a limit of five (5) fluorescent tubes four feet (4′) or less in length per household accepted. If you would like more information about the importance of lamp recycling Search News on Earth 911 or visit lamprecycle.org. To find the Wal-Mart near you by Zip code or if you need information about where to drop off the tubes that Wal-Mart can’t accept, use the Earth 911 locator at the top of the page. The Wal-Mart events will show up in the right hand “Local Events” column of the results page.