Vermont stores will be prohibited from selling all types of general use fluorescent lights starting in the new year. A 2022 law banning the sale of 4-foot linear fluorescent bulbs goes into effect on Jan. 1. Sales of compact fluorescent bulbs have been restricted since February.
Mercury is a toxic pollutant that can cause significant health problems, the law emphasizes, citing nervous system, kidney and liver damage and impaired childhood development. “All fluorescent lamps contain mercury and create an immediate public health and environment hazard when they accidentally break,” the legislative findings for the 2022 law said.
LEDs, a source of light that does not contain mercury, are now a widely available and more energy efficient alternative for most uses of fluorescent bulbs, the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources determined in February 2022. That determination banned the sale of compact fluorescent lights by February 2023.
At the time, the legislature disagreed that the long tubular bulbs targeted by this law were more expensive than LEDs. Upon further research, however, they found that the 4-foot LEDs are actually more energy-efficient than fluorescent bulbs, using only half as much electricity.
When the law was adopted in 2022, Vermont became the first state to order a phase-out of all fluorescent lights. Since then, other states, such as California and Maine, have followed.
Sale of special use mercury-containing 4-foot-long bulbs — for instance, those used to disinfect products or for lithography — will still be allowed under the new restrictions.
“Sometimes there is no alternative,” said Josh Kelly, the solid waste program manager of the Department of Environmental Conservation. He said the new law’s focus is on mass-produced bulbs that create the most harm to the environment, not on special-purpose bulbs.
The rebate program, which is called SMARTLIGHT, will expire at the end of this year. However, Efficiency Vermont will continue to offer custom rebates and help with a change to LEDs throughout 2024, according to a news release from the Department of Environmental Conservation.
The organization Efficiency Vermont is offering rebates and help for people who are still using fluorescent lightbulbs, Jason Batchelder, commissioner of Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation, said in the release.
Across the state, there are locations where residents can dispose of up to 10 mercury-containing lightbulbs for free, which is expected to continue beyond the start of the prohibition.
Kelly said in most cases Vermonters will be able to use an LED just like a fluorescent bulb.
“In some cases (people) might find that the fixture doesn’t accommodate an LED and have to replace the fixture, but my experience has been that that’s very, very rare,” he said.
