Boring Post on Recycling Fluorescents
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 07. 6.07
With all of the posts we have done about CFL's and the debate about the dangers of mercury in them, the fact is that everyone knows what to do about it: Collect and recycle them. IKEA does it; there is a bin in every store where you can take back your bulbs when you need a new one. The standard four foot fluorescent that is omnipresent in office buildings has five times as much mercury in each bulb as a CFL; responsible businesses have been keeping these out of the garbage for years.
One innovative system is LampTracker, which provides "collection and safe recycling of fluorescent bulbs using integrated on-line tracking capability and a unique shipping container design....It is a total-care approach to storage, handling, transport and recycling of fluorescent lamps. WM LampTracker offers the exclusive Vapor lock foil bag that has been specially engineered and custom-manufactured to safely contain residual mercury vapors during the storage and transportation of fluorescent bulbs. "
It is not an exciting business and it is hard to write an exciting post about it. But it exists and demonstrates that huge amounts of mercury are being kept out of the environment in the commercial sector, and the same techniques can be applied to the residential sector. ::Lamptracker
I had to recycle a CF bulb this weekend. Thankfully, my county offers free household hazardous waste recycling. We pulled into the garage, handed the guy the bulb, and drove away. Took us all of two minutes and was about a mile from our house.
Also, we saw one of the trucks carrying normal waste to the incinerator where it's used to generate electricity and noticed that they're all running B100.
I didn't know IKEA did it - cheers!
CFLs are in the environmental news a lot these days. If you want to find a place to recycle them, earth911.org lets you search for locations by zip code.
The problem with all the hazardous waste collection points that I've encountered is that they rely on you having a car.
I have worked in the waste management industry for over 10 years and am still amazed at the number of people that don't realise fluorescent tubes are hazardous. There is often an old fashioned attitude that we have been disposing of them in landfill sites for years so what difference is it going to make now?
One option for those who do not have a car or access to a city or county facility is to use a consumer oriented recycling service.
Check out www.ThinkGreenFromHome.com
They provide a complete system in which you buy an empty box and then fill it up with burnt out CFLs and then mail it back via the US Postal Service. Saves time, energy, and recycles CFLs!
Much better than driving across town and worrying about the bulbs breaking in your car.