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Recycling broken or burnt string lights can reduce holiday landfill waste

In 2019, Product Care Recycling diverted more than 11.6 million light bulbs from landfills
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Product Care offers more than 150 free drop-off locations in B.C. (Pixabay.com)

As British Columbians unbox their holiday decorations ahead of the holiday season, one organization is encouraging everyone to recycle their burnt out and broken holiday string lights this year.

Product Care Recycling provides recycling solutions for a variety of products such as post-consumer paint, household hazardous waste and smoke/carbon monoxide alarms – and Christmas lights are no exception.

“Recycling holiday lights gives the various parts a new useful life, rather than adding to landfill waste,” Wayne Chisholm, Product Care’s logistics and services manager, said in a news release.

“Once holiday lights are dropped off at a recycling location, they’re transported to authorized recyclers for processing—right here in Canada—where they’re separated into component parts (metal, glass, plastic) so the materials can be repurposed into new products.”

Product Care offers more than 150 free drop-off locations in B.C. String lights are only one of the many lighting products the organization accepts, as well as flashlights lamps and various other kinds of light bulbs.

As British Columbians unbox their holiday decorations and brighten their homes this holiday season, Product Care Recycling urges people to use their Recycling Locator to salvage broken or burnt-out lights.

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