What happens to 'Recycled' Lightbulbs? - We reclaimed the mercury!

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DISCLAIMER:
Lightbulbs I handled in this video were checked for damage and staged for educational purposes only.

JerryRigEverything assumes no liability for property damage or injury incurred as a result of any of the information contained in this video. JerryRigEverything recommends safe practices when working with power tools, automotive lifts, lifting tools, jack stands, electrical equipment, blunt instruments, chemicals, lubricants, expensive electronics, or any other tools or equipment seen or implied in this video. Due to factors beyond the control of JerryRigEverything, no information contained in this video shall create any express or implied warranty or guarantee of any particular result. Any injury, damage or loss that may result from improper use of these tools, equipment, or the information contained in this video is the sole responsibility of the user and not JerryRigEverything. Only attempt your own repairs if you can accept personal responsibility for the results, whether they are good or bad.

[FinlayDaGk]

When Zack holds that bottle of liquid mercury, I somehow am kinda worried about a Linus drop happening :s

[ChristianRB]

These factory tour videos are a new favorite for me.

[Evanator]

I am loving the influx of "How it's made" type videos from Zack!

[TorIvanBoine]

great video as always.
here in norway every shop that sells lightbulbs, and batteries for that matter, are obliged to collect used ones.

[joshb_]

I love how committed you are to help the environment and educate/entertain us at the same time. This makes for continually great content!

[Carljouannet]

Thank you for sharing! These educational videos are incredibly helpful and good for spreading awareness!

[marcopare]

I work for a collection centre and it's nice to see such a huge amount of everyday house stuff gathered together and know it'll be given new life. Recycling is fundamental.

[stilcrazychris]

I like these plant operation videos. Really enjoyed the Ford plant on the Lighting truck. Now would like to see the Chevy Electrictruck & SUV being built. It was very educational. I use to work for Zenith Electronics in Springfield, MO until they moved the plant to Mexico. I miss it a lot. Especially the people, but I love my job too.
Thanks Zack for sharing these type of videos & tell your wife hi too. Love your wheelchair business you all are doing. God bless & have a wonderful day,
Chris from Missouri

[WHATSINSIDEFAMILY]

When I was I kid I would sword fight with those long lights until they exploded. was super fun. Turns out probably wasn't super safe...

[BraveRock]

“Today on how it is unmade”

This is really cool process!

[souravagrawal]

I like the direction the channel is going. Love to hear about the positives that we can do for the environment.

[ExperimentIV]

my dad used to work at a lamp plant, and they were very proactive about checking the employees for mercury exposure. they would make you sign your name and keep them on file to compare against past signatures in case they started to get jittery or sloppy, as if you were exposed to a harmful amount of mercury and were poisoned, sloppy motor skills are one of the symptoms. always thought that was interesting. cool to see the process to recycle these, having known a bit of the process to make these kinds of bulbs!

[FluffyMugiLand]

its nice that you make these video`s they are interesting and positive we keep improving

[vdubvance]

I work for a sign company, We have a bulb muncher, Its a big contraption that locks onto a 50 gallon drum. You stick a large bulb in and it munches it down, the most satisfying machine in the shop...

[DavidSigbi]

The effort that goes into recycling these things is kinda satisfying

[matthewmay]

WOW, I'm impressed with your professionalism and your natural host abilities. You're video's on recycling, etc... should be featured on television for all to see. Keep up with the great research and content. Thanks

[TJMartinek]

Thanks for letting me know I could recycle them at Lowes. That's super easy. I switched all my lights to LED a while ago but I'll keep that in mind.

[SuXApate]

Hi Zack,
maybe you could also do a video about textile recycling someday. Fast fashion is a huge problem we will be facing in the future, since the recycling methods in large scale are limited (especially for textile blends). For example if there is elastane in your clothing, it is most likely not being recyled and ends up on landfills or is incinearted. Therefore, less than 1% of textile waste is recycled to become a new fibre or yarn for clothing.
Maybe you can reach out to a recycling facility for textiles and get your audience an understanding on the difficulties and possible soultions on this subject.
Cheers
Lukas

[Scapeshift]

This is the industry I work in (hazmat/haz-waste solutions) so thanks for bringing this to more people's eyes. I am glad to see more people will realize that their lightbulbs are can and should be recycled instead of ending up in a landfill.
Depending on your state, most will run household hazardous waste events where you can drop off lightbulbs as another great solution for disposal.

[paulfarnsworth]

Thanks for the informative video. One small correction. Most of the current in a fluorescent bulb is carried by argon gas, not by mercury. Electrons from the ionized argon excite mercury atoms, which then emit uv light. The uv light is absorbed by the phosphors, and they in turn give off visible light. That’s why the uv lamp you showed had no phosphor coating. It uses the uv light from the mercury directly.