Homebase, one of the UK's leading home improvement retailers, has signed an agreement with specialist recycling scheme Recolight to provide in-store collection facilities for low-energy light bulb recycling.

Over the next 6 weeks, Recolight's Bulbstore Mini collection containers will be rolled out across Homebase's 320 stores nationwide, providing customers with safe and convenient facilities for them to dispose of their old energy saver light bulbs.

Nigel Harvey, Recolight Chief Executive said: "Recolight is committed to making it as easy as possible for people to recycle their old low-energy light bulbs, and to raise awareness of the importance of doing so. Homebase has over 70 million customers through its stores each year and we believe this partnership will enable us to spread the recycling message more widely and provide convenient collection locations for customers to take their old light-bulbs. We are delighted by the commitment made by Homebase. This is a really exciting development which will be integral to helping us to raise recycling rates as more low-energy light bulbs start to reach end-of-life in the coming years."

In accordance with the WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) Regulations, all low-energy light bulbs need to be recycled when they reach end- of-life. As traditional light bulbs are gradually phased out, low-energy versions will become more common in homes, and as they contain a small amount of mercury to produce light efficiently, they can be harmful to the environment if sent to landfill.

Consumers can currently recycle low-energy light bulbs at any of the country's 1,100 civic amenity sites. However, the partnership between Homebase and Recolight is an important step in providing consumers with a wider range of options to make recycling as easy as possible.

As part of the partnership with Homebase, volunteers collecting light-bulbs in their community under the Recolight CoBRA scheme will also be able to use Homebase stores as drop off points, further improving facilities for low-energy light bulb recycling.

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