Rather than toss unworkable Christmas lights into household trash – or worse, in recycling cans – the Burlington County Commissioners are encouraging residents to give the bulbs a second life at either the e-waste recycling dropoff in the county Resource Recovery Complex or the county agricultural center.
Strands of lights must be kept out of curbside recycling containers because they tangle and damage the mechanical equipment used in the recycling process. Residents who want to bring lights or other electronics to the complex should enter and follow signs to the scale house, where they will then be directed to the e-waste dropoff.
E-waste includes old televisions, computers, monitors, printers, cell phones and other small electronic devices. The agricultural center is a new location for residents to bring spent lights through January. A box will be located outside the farmhouse kitchen entrance near the main parking lot.
More information about recycling is available on the county’s free Recycle Coach app. It can be downloaded from the Apple or GooglePlay app stores and has information about what materials are accepted in curbside recycling bins and updates and alerts about collection schedules for each town.
For more information about the proper disposal of electronics or other materials, call (609) 499-1001 or email recycle@co.burlington.nj.us.