Waste Reduction

Disposing of Fluorescent Bulbs and other Mercury-Containing Devices

(See also our information on disposing of batteries.)

Cass County residents and businesses are required to properly dispose of all types of used fluorescent light bulbs, high intensity discharge lamps, and mercury-containing devices. Examples of mercury-containing devices include: thermostats, manometers, position sensitive switches (such as those found in washing machine lids and car trunk lights), thermometers with the "silvery" indicator liquid, thermostat probes, and various gauges.

County Residents may bring their compact and regular fluorescent bulbs and other mercury containing materials to any of the County transfer sites, including: Walker-Hackensack, Leech Lake Tribal Solid Waste, Pine River, May Township, Outing (Crooked Lake Twp.), or Slagle's by Longville. Bulbs are also accepted at Godfrey's Hardware north of Backus, Ace Harware in Walker, and True Value Hardware in Remer. A disposal fee may be charged at non-county sites.

Businesses may contact private contractors, including those listed below, for pick-up of the materials noted above, or you may bring these materials to one of the county transfer stations. It can save time and money to have your fluorescent bulbs and other materials picked up at your place of business, rather than taking time off work to haul them to the transfer stations. In most cases, the disposal cost is the same. You save on transportation costs.