HOLDEN – State officials announced a new program Thursday that will allow homeowners to recycle energy-saving, compact fluorescent light bulbs at retail stores throughout Maine.

In a first-in-the-nation initiative, the Maine Public Utilities Commission and Department of Environmental Protection have launched a statewide program with retail stores aimed at keeping compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, out of the landfill or incinerator.

CFLs have become increasingly popular with consumers in recent years thanks to their ability to reduce energy use and, therefore, electric bills. The bulbs use 50 percent to 80 percent less electricity than incandescent bulbs, resulting in dramatically fewer emissions of mercury, carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases from power plants.

Compact fluorescent bulbs also last up to 10 times longer.

But unlike incandescent bulbs, CFLs contain trace amounts of the toxin mercury – about the amount of ink in the tip of a ballpoint pen, according to federal estimates. That means CFLs must be disposed of properly by trained recyclers capable of recapturing mercury and other contents of intact bulbs.

“Using compact fluorescents is good for the environment,” Kurt Adams, chairman of the PUC, said Thursday while announcing the new recycling program at a Holden hardware store.

“On the back end, when they are at the end of their lives … they need to be managed appropriately. They can’t just go out in the trash with other household waste,” Adams said.

Under the new program, called “Replace Reduce Recycle,” consumers can bring burned-out bulbs to participating retailers around the state. More than 100 have signed on so far with more joining daily, officials said.

Store employees will take the bulb for free and place it in a specially designed plastic bucket kept in a safe location. When the bucket fills up, store employees seal the bucket and ship it to a recycling facility.

“All the consumer needs to do is bring it in to us. We’ll take it from there,” said Mike Jennings, president of Granville-ACE Lumber in Holden.

The PUC-administered program Efficiency Maine is paying for all aspects of the program, including shipping. Efficiency Maine, which has been promoting use of CFLs through ads and rebates, announced the sale of the 1 millionth CFL earlier this year.

“There is no national model quite like this and we believe it will be picked up by other states,” Adams added.

While the energy-saving aspects of CFLs have been widely publicized, the bulbs’ special disposal requirements have gotten far less attention.

To date, the only disposal option most Maine consumers had was to take a burned-out bulb to a municipal transfer station for recycling. But not all transfer stations accept the bulbs. Many more bulbs likely ended up in the trash.

State officials have also stepped up their educational campaigns about how to clean up a shattered CFL.

Because the bulbs contain mercury, officials advocate wearing rubber gloves, safety goggles and even a dust mask when cleaning up a shattered bulb. They recommend immediately cleaning up the site using two stiff pieces of paper or cardboard to gather up the broken glass shards and dust.

Finally, consumers should use tape and a wet paper towel to pick up remaining dust. All materials should then be placed in a sealable container and brought to a municipal transfer station that accepts universal waste. Broken bulbs cannot be brought to stores participating in the recycling program.

Broken CFL debris should never be vacuumed because that can disperse the mercury dust. The state also recommends ventilating the area and keeping pets and people from tracking through the breakage spot before cleanup is complete.

The need for more education became clear earlier this spring when a Prospect woman was told it would cost $2,000 to professionally clean the spot of a broken bulb.

The DEP has since said professional cleanup was not required but removed pieces of the carpet in the room anyway. Still, the story generated an anti-CFL buzz among some commentators, who quoted only the high initial cleanup estimate.

DEP Commissioner David Littell said Thursday that the agency has been conducting more tests on the best way to clean up broken CFLs. But he said the overall, long-term environmental benefits of the bulbs are clear, especially with recycling.

Paul Abernathy, executive director of the Association of Lighting and Mercury Recyclers, said other states have been kicking around similar ideas but got hung up on funding. He praised Maine’s program, adding it could become a national model.

Abernathy said having retail stores accept burned-out bulbs is among the best ways to get high recycling rates.

“It’s been done in very few places, but where it has been done, it seems to be working,” Abernathy said. “We’re excited about [Maine’s program]. We take it as good news.”