Canada's national strategy for lamps containing mercury
When lamps containing mercury are disposed of improperly, a small amount of mercury may be released, posing potential risks to human health and the environment. The National Strategy for Lamps Containing Mercury aims to eliminate lamps as a source of mercury pollution in Canada by ensuring they are collected and recycled responsibly, while encouraging Canadians to buy mercury-free alternatives.
Read the strategy
Targeted actions, recommendations and a framework to measure our effectiveness
Measuring our progress
Read the baseline report and about our progress to-date
Read our code of practice
Best practices for the end-of-life management of lamps containing mercury
Disposing of lamps with mercury
The Hg symbol indicates when a lamp contains mercury. There are different options available to safely dispose of lamps containing mercury depending on where you live. Collection sites may include recycling depots, municipal hazardous waste events and voluntary return-to-retail programs to keep mercury out of the environment.
A number of provinces/territories have regulated light-recycling programs in place. Please visit this informational webpage to see if your community has free recycling drop-off options as a part of this program.
Alternatively, please contact your local municipality or a private lamp recycling company for safe disposal options near you.
Return-to-retail programs include:
Additional information
Spread the word
Help get the message out by sharing these videos!