I’ve been told officially that these class as hazardous waste. You need to contact your county council to find out how to dispose of them. You might want to publicise this in your local area as I’m sure - with the oldest of these products now reaching the end of their useful lives - there will be lots of people chucking them in the bin. Perhaps your local shop would let you put a collection bin in it? Maybe one for batteries too?

My local council waste and recycling centre (aka the tip) has recently acquired a new container for recycling fluorescent tubes. I am assuming, as it doesn’t say otherwise, that this includes the compact version. Worth checking out if the same facilities are in your area, or at least, by inquiring, raising the profile of the demand.

tied together with a few old loo rolls these strange looking objects make exciting ‘DR Who’ like toys for small children.

NO! As previously said - they are hazardous material. Do not let them get near children!

I understand that Ikea will recycle the bulbs. Collect them up and take them with you next time you go shopping and deposit them in the special bins. Alternatively check with your local recycling centre (tip).

They don’t usually stop working completely, rather they start flickering annoyingly, and this quickly gets worse until they’re mostly off, but flashing on randomly. So…

…have a disco! Well I once had a raucous house party where we had a couple flashing away in “the dance room” creating a dubious disco effect. It kind of worked with the music. We probably threw them in the bin afterwards though :-(

Advice from the council in the event of breaking an energy efficient lightbulb:

* Evacuate the room, taking care not to step on the shards of glass littering the floor.
* Do not use a vacuum cleaner to clear up the mess as the machine’s sucking action could spread toxic mercury droplets around the house.
* Put on rubber gloves and sweep the debris into a dustpan.
* Place the remains in a plastic bag and seal it
* DO NOT out the bag in a normal household dustbin
* Instead, place it in a municipal recycling bin for batteries which also contain mercury (as do fluorescent tubes) or take it to a Recycling Centre for Household Waste where it can be disposed of safely.
* Try not to inhale dust form the broken bulb.