The City of Chattanooga announced on Thursday the expansion of its commitment to the environment by offering tubular and compact fluorescent bulb recycling at the following City recycling convenience centers: Warner Park, John A. Patten Recreation Center and Access Road at DuPont Parkway.
“More than 670 million mercury-containing bulbs are put in landfills across the country each year,” said Mayor Ron Littlefield. “These bulbs are more energy efficient than standard light bulbs; however, when they are discarded, many break and put mercury into our environment. I encourage all citizens of Chattanooga to bring their fluorescent light bulbs to convenience centers so that they are kept out of our landfill and properly disposed.”
All tubular and compact fluorescent bulbs four feet long and shorter are collected at these centers. Broken bulbs will not be accepted. The bulbs will be dry-stored inside the buildings at the convenience centers and then taken to a hazardous waste disposal site.
The convenience centers are located at:
Warner Park, 1250 E. 3rd Street
John A. Patten Recreation Center
3202 Kelly’s Ferry Rd.
Access Road at DuPont Parkway
4500 N. Access Rd.
East Brainerd Baseball Complex at the end of Batter’s Place Road (this center does not currently accept fluorescent light bulbs).
Operating hours for all centers are: Monday-Friday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The following items can be recycled at Chattanooga convenience centers: cardboard, newspaper, all paper grades, plastic #1 and #2 bottles with a neck, aluminum cans, rinsed out steel cans, glass bottles (brown, green and clear), used motor oil, cell phones, calculators, computers, printers, palm pilots, VCR and DVD players, land phones, laptops and other small electronics (no televisions or microwaves). Old batteries (wet and dry cell) can be turned in at any Chattanooga convenience center so that they may be properly disposed.
Clear guidelines for both curbside recycling and recycling at convenience centers are available at www.recycleright.org. The website also includes assistance in determining which Wednesday of the month is your curbside pickup day, sign-up for a pickup e-mail reminder, answers to frequently asked questions, a printable “Rocky the Recycling Raccoon” coloring page and more.