Xmas lights broken? Recycle them

Each year, more neighbourhoods across Australia are celebrating the Christmas season with extravagant light shows. Hardware stores, supermarkets and specialty stores sell indoor and outdoor products ranging from simple strings to full-on displays.

It is easy to buy Christmas lights, but how should we dispose of them when they inevitably break or fail to suit the purpose any longer?

Fairy lights, LEDs and other electronics contain toxic materials that don’t belong in household waste or recycling bins. These materials can, however, be almost completely re-purposed if disposed of thoughtfully. Sydney City Council, for instance, claims to recycle around 95 per cent of the raw materials recovered from old Christmas lights and electronics.

According to specialist e-waste recycling company Ecocycle, the cables in string lights often 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. The copper is particularly valuable, so many scrap metal companies, such as Recycal, will accept power cables (and the associated lights), for recycling.

As for other elements, Ecocycle says the aluminium could end up in anything from cooking foil to drinks cans, the glass might come back as insulation in a new home, the phosphor powder can be used to make new lamps, and the mercury is sought-after for making dental amalgam.

Fortunately, recycling e-waste and Christmas lights is becoming easier:

- Smaller items, such as strings of lights, can often be dropped off at recycling stations in libraries, recreation and community centres;
- Retail outlets such as Bunnings, IKEA and some supermarkets operate lighting recycling programs;
- Take them to your local council e-waste facility. If the items are too big, or you just can’t get there, many councils also offer pre-booked doorstep recycling collection.

If you have carton-sized quantities of expired string lighting to deal with, Ecocycle provides pre-paid boxes as another way to ensuring it will be safely recycled.