CFl recycling

This is a key development from the Times. One of the major selling points of new types of photonic lighting (LED, OLED) has been that the current standard of high efficiency bulb, the Compact FLorescent bulb has mercury in it. Recycling rates are pitiful which means many are broken in trash cans or put in landfills. Comprehensive recycling programs have not been available, so recycling rates have been about 2%. This should raise the rate significantly, but also raise the awareness of mercury in the units and possibly raise awareness of the dangers of an in-home breakage. Considering the stir about mercury in vaccines, this could counter-intuitively have a positive effect of comparably efficient replacements promissing "NO Mercury!" I suspect that's why the major manufacturers of CFLs have not introduced their own lifecycle programs, and have discounted the mercury danger.

I'll admit that the amount of mercury is minute, but in some situations, say a baby's nursery, the concentration could be significant. Of course, there's a lot more mercury in an old-style thermometer, and people probably didn't know how to dispose of them either. Still, this is fundamentally a marketing game, and LEDs and OLEDs do not 'break' and do not emit toxic substances when mishandled (unless you actually ate one anyway.)