From Ethical Consumer Magazine; Lighting the Way

Compact fluorescent (CFL); look like a strip light folded over. And that’s exactly what they are. The original low energy light bulb. Now come in ‘normal’ shapes, just like a traditional incandescent. Advances in technology mean they’re brighter, don’t flicker and don’t take minutes to ‘warm up’. Some can be fitted with a dimmer switch too.

Halogen: commonly used as recessed downlighters. A gas filament gives them extra brightness. Use less energy than incandescents but are not as efficient as either CFL’s or LEDs.

Incandescent; Traditional style bulbs. Use on average 80% more energy than CFLs.

Light Emitting diode. LED; they’ve been around for ages on our tvs, stereos, and other gadgets. Several diodes are clustered together to produce sufficient light. They’re commonly found in traffic lights as they don’t suffer from glare and last much, much longer.

Disposing of CFLs

The mercury content in the average CFL- no more than 5 milligrams-would fit on the tip of a ballpoint pen, but it’s still a hazardous material. More often than not light bulbs are broken when they’re disposed of. What happens with a CFL, the mercury vaporises and is deposited. It then is absorbed into plant and animal systems, as well as the soil. However, since a compact fluorescent bulb uses 75% less energy than an incandescent bulb, and lasts at least six times longer, it is responsible for far less mercury pollution in the long run. A coal burning power plant will emit four times more mercury to produce the electricity for an incandescent bulb than for a compact fluorescent.

Because of their mercury content, CFLs create waste disposal problems. Used bulbs need to be recycled rather than go in the bin. Within the EU, CFL lamps are subject to the WEEE recycling scheme. The retail price includes an amount to pay for recycling and manufacturers and importers have an obligation to collect and recycle bulbs in every area, although only a few authorities have set up their own scheme.

Notably IKEA is currently the only major retailer offering CFL recycling points.

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