Australia may not be in the same league as America when it comes to Christmas light displays.
However, as more people get into the festive lighting spirit one thing is certain – more Christmas lighting adds up to more electrical and electronic waste (e-waste).
No one wants to be the Grinch so decorate away, but when your Christmas lights become old and broken please do the right thing and make sure they are safely recycled.
One distinguishing feature of Christmas lighting is its sheer diversity, both in form and technology, and this has a bearing on recycling options.
The usual suspects
Standard, everyday types of lighting – incandescent light globes, compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and fluorescent tubes – can all be drafted into festive uses.
Once they expire, they can be recycled through established lighting recycling programs.
These may be operated by selected lighting retailers, such as IKEA, or by local councils.
If you go in for lighting up your house, business or organisation in a bigger way, our pre-paid lighting recycling boxes are the ideal way of recycling moderate quantities of lighting waste.
Little lights galore
Perhaps the lighting type we most associate with Christmas are the long cables adorned with dozens or hundreds of individual little lights.
These mostly use high-efficiency LED technology and that makes them cheap to run.
For a more environmentally-friendly Christmas lighting experience there are even solar-powered versions are available – more lights, less guilt.
With string lights, the cables can make up the largest proportion of the product, with the light globes only contributing a small fraction of the total weight.
The cables are mostly copper and plastic, both of which can be recycled.
With the copper being particularly valuable many scrap metal companies, such as our sister company Recycal, will accept power cables (and the associated lights), for recycling.
You can also check with your local council if they include string lighting in the types of e-waste that they accept at their recycling depots.
If you have carton-sized quantities of expired string lighting to deal with, our pre-paid boxes provide a convenient way of ensuring they will be safely recycled.
What about bigger quantities?
Shopping centres, councils, large retailers and other organisations can really take to lighting up Christmas in a big way.
While LED lights may have a long life, eventually they wear out.
It’s particularly important for organisations that generate large quantities of Christmas lighting waste to opt for recycling rather than dumping.
Ecocycle designs large-scale, super convenient, custom recycling solutions for lighting of all types.
To find out more fill out the form below or give us a call on 1300 32 62 92 and talk to one of our lighting waste specialists.
