What do I do with old flourescent ballasts?

[OilMagnate]

i recently remodeled my shop and converted all of my T12s over to direct wire LEDs. No regrets. But I have all of the old ballasts (and bulbs) just piled up in a corner in my garage. Are these reusable to the right person? I don't want to sell them or anything, but I'm not sure if this is one of those "one man's junk" situations or if I just need to dispose of them. If the former, I can post them online for free. If the latter, well...how do you properly dispose of them? Surely it's not a trash can. Just for clarification, no, I don't live in California. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Imp4]

My Home Depot won't take the long bulbs.

The BatteriesPlus store near me takes all sorts of used batteries and bulbs including the 4 footers but you have to pay 25 cents each.
See here. They will take ballasts also.

Small ones go in the free recycling bin at Home Depot.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

Home Depot and Lowes have bins you can drop them off in

 

[skyactiv]

There is a 99.9% chance no one wants your old bulbs.
Trash pickers might take the ballast if left out on trash day depending where you live.
California isn't the only state that has restrictions regarding this.

• California
• Maine
• Massachusetts
• Minnesota
• New Hampshire
• Vermont
• Washington

 

[eljefino]

Ballasts from before 1977 or so have PCBs, so if you find someone to take those for free you're ahead of the game.

 

[Leo99]

It's old obsolete technology. I threw mine in the garbage.

 

[KJSmith]

The tubes have a very small amount of mercury in them.

*Most* large companies were told several years ago to start disposing of them correctly or there will be regulations put in place.
We put them in a container, in a bag, in another container and Fed Ex ground them to a recycler.

Unless you have a large number, just throw them away.
It cost apx. $70.00 to get rid of ~30 4' tubes.

Ballast are usually marked as "no PCB's".
Or, the manufacture date is stamped on the back.

 

[meep]

I can’t get the right replacement bulbs anymore locally, and these are for high efficiency fluorescents that I bought new 4 years ago. What a waste. I doubt anyone wants the ballasts since it’s getting harder to find bulbs.

 

[SZR48207]

List them as free on CL with a rough address and then put them on the curb. Then forget about them. Someone will come pick them up.

But don't list them as free and then make people contact you.. you'll be bombarded by all the lazy people who like the idea of something free but don't have the time or gas money to come pick it up.

 

[y_p_w]

Are they older magnetic ballasts or newer electronic ballasts? I replaced my old magnetic ballast when it failed with an electronic one. I still have both after converting to direct LEDs. The electronic one says "No PCBs" and I believe I can just throw it away if I feel like it. We have county hazardous waste drop-off locations that (among other things) accepts fluorescent tubes and used ballasts.

 

[madeej11]

Doesn't your municipality have an eco-center that takes in all kinds of obsolete or broken electronics? Everything from blenders to tv's to PC monitors and towers, you name it.

 

[OilMagnate]

I guess I should have clarified, all of them are old magnetic ballasts. I know because I tried initially to use non-direct-wire LEDs which require an electronic ballast. None of them worked, which is one of the reasons I did a full conversion (plus who likes replacing ballasts anyway?).

eljefino, I just got a crash course on PCBs. Never heard of this until you said it. Great. Now I have to figure out what to do with these as some of them actually are leaking. I thought it was just some weird phenomenon or a glue of some sort. I guess I'll be making some phone calls over the next few days...

 

[mk378]

As others said, look for "No PCBs" on the label. When they say that, they likely can be be sent to the landfill as is. There may be some recycled metal value.

PCB has a unique odor. If it smells like nothing you've encountered before and it was made 40+ years ago you could have PCB.

 

[y_p_w]

I guess I should have clarified, all of them are old magnetic ballasts. I know because I tried initially to use non-direct-wire LEDs which require an electronic ballast. None of them worked, which is one of the reasons I did a full conversion (plus who likes replacing ballasts anyway?).

eljefino, I just got a crash course on PCBs. Never heard of this until you said it. Great. Now I have to figure out what to do with these as some of them actually are leaking. I thought it was just some weird phenomenon or a glue of some sort. I guess I'll be making some phone calls over the next few days...

If they're leaking then you need to securely bag them up and find out what place might accept them.

I know someone who works in government hazardous material management. He said the bulk of the problems aren't with large industries (like oil refineries) or illegal dumping. They're hazardous materials like paint and solvents that are abandoned.

I will say that I cut the wires to some ballast and left them in place. However, my problem was that it seemed a little too difficult to remove them because of the setup. But they're not leaking.

 

[zzyzzx]

Place in garbage can.

 

[Rmay635703]

I can’t get the right replacement bulbs anymore locally, and these are for high efficiency fluorescents that I bought new 4 years ago. What a waste. I doubt anyone wants the ballasts since it’s getting harder to find bulbs.

There are LEDs that work in the ballasts, there are also loads of obsolete fluorescents in mom and pop hardware stores, our company had a room full of unused long bulbs a few years ago that likely won’t get used up before we fully convert to led

Also functional units posted for free on fbook or Craig’s would likelyfind takers, it would just be hassle dealing with them

the bad units will need to go to your towns municipal hazardous waste area.

 

[y_p_w]

Place in garbage can.

If they're magnetic ballasts with PCBs, that's illegal in most states. They're regulated as hazardous waste.

 

[ollie]

Place in garbage can.

That's what I do along with the bulbs.

If they're magnetic ballasts with PCBs, that's illegal in most states. They're regulated as hazardous waste.

I have never heard of that. If they are not leaking then properly disposing in your trash is no issue.

As per epa.gov:

PCB-containing ballasts become a concern if they are leaking or they will be removed and disposed of as hazardous waste. According to EPA Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) regulations, the material must be incinerated. The entire lighting fixture does not need special handling and disposal as long as the ballast (electrical box) is not leaking. The non-leaking ballasts can be removed and recycled or disposed of properly.

 

[OilMagnate]

Typical EPA logic.

EPA: 'Ballast not leaking? Recycle it. Wait, the ballast is leaking? Throw it in a bonfire! That'll take care of it.'
Me: 'Wouldn't that actually do more damage? You know...toxic chemicals, fumes, air quality. The Clean Air Act...'
EPA: 'It'll be throw in properly.'
Me: '......'
EPA: 'Do you want to be fined?!?'

 

[JC1]

Take them to your local waste disposal site. They should be able to deal with them as they are considered hazardous waste.