'LightRecycle' reaches one million mark

Just more than a year after its inception in Washington state, the LightRecycle program has reached one million lights recycled through its program.

According to a press release, the program allows people to recycle up to 10 fluorescent lights or Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs) per day at more than 220 collection sites across the state. The program allows for fluorescent lights, CFLs, High-Intensity Discharge (HID) lights and other mercury-containing lights to be recycled.

Recycled lights are accepted at three Whitman County locations: Whitman County Public Works Solid Waste Facility located on Landfill Road, Ace Hardware on S. Grand Avenue in Pullman and Pullman Disposal Service, 135 NW Harold Drive.

“People in Washington got the LightRecycle program off to a strong start, but there are a lot of mercury-containing lights still out there,” said Peter Thermos, program manager of LightRecycle Washington.

“We'll keep looking for ways to expand the program and let people know that it's important to properly recycle fluorescent lights.”

The program was started in January 2015 as an effort to keep lights containing mercury, which is toxic, out of the environment. In its first year, the program saw 989,034 lights recycled. The one million milestone was reached not long after.