Where do LED bulbs go?

An LED lamp is a circuit board and a driver in a bulb-shaped housing, which makes it electrical waste rather than glass. There is no mercury, so a broken one is not a hazard, but the copper, the board and the aluminium heatsink are all recoverable and none of that happens in a landfill. Kerbside glass collections do not take them under any circumstances, because the housing is usually plastic or a glass-plastic hybrid with electronics inside. Take them to the WEEE point at a household waste centre or a shop that runs a lamp take-back. Some councils have begun collecting lamps separately at the kerb, so check your own authority list before assuming.

How to prepare it

1. Take them with any other small electricals rather than making a special trip.

What not to do

• Never put LED lamps in the glass bin — they are electronics and a contaminant.
• Never assume "LED" means "recyclable at the kerb"; almost no scheme accepts them.

Kerbside collection rules genuinely vary by council and county, and local rules always win over general guidance. The reasoning above is what transfers — if your service differs, it will usually be for a reason described here.

Other things that go to household waste recycling centre

• Leftover wet paint Household waste centre or a community paint reuse scheme. Liquid paint is not accepted in any household bin.
• Car batteries (lead-acid) Garage, scrap yard or household waste centre. Lead-acid is the most successfully recycled consumer product there is.
• Used motor oil Household waste centre oil bank, or a garage that accepts it. One container of it contaminates an enormous volume of water.
• Small electricals (kettles, toasters, hair dryers) Electrical waste. Household waste centre, a shop take-back point, or a kerbside small-electricals sack if your council runs one.
• Pyrex and heat-resistant glassware Never the glass bin. Ovenware is formulated not to melt like bottle glass, and one fragment can ruin a whole batch.
• Televisions and monitors WEEE recycling. Old CRT sets contain several kilograms of leaded glass.
• CFL energy-saving bulbs Household waste centre or a shop take-back point. They contain mercury and must not be binned.
• Drinking glasses and wine glasses Not the glass bin. Tableware glass has a different composition from bottle glass.
• Smoke alarms Household waste centre or manufacturer return. Ionisation alarms contain a tiny sealed radioactive source.
• Crockery, mugs and ceramics Not glass and not recyclable at the kerb. Donate what is whole; broken pieces go to the household waste centre or general waste.
• Fluorescent tubes Household waste centre, intact. Mercury inside, and a tube that breaks in transit is a spill.
• Camping gas canisters and butane cartridges Household waste centre, as gas cylinders — not the metal skip and never a bin, whether or not they feel empty.
• Fire extinguishers Household waste centre or a fire equipment company. It is pressurised until a professional has discharged it.
• Mirrors Household waste centre. The reflective backing means it is not recyclable glass.