Australia's National Local Government Newspaper Online

Tube and lamp recycling ... the responsible thing to do*

Energy efficient fluorescent and HID lamps have gained widespread usage over the years compared to incandescent ones, and rightly so. Their increasing popularity is due to the fact that fluorescent lights use only about one quarter the energy of a common incandescent bulb and fluorescent lights last an average of 10,000 hours. Conventional incandescent bulbs only work for about 750 hours - quite a difference, especially when you consider the investment in time and money, not to mention potentially saved energy.

We need to be mindful of our responsibility to protect our precious environment and more aware that if we don't start to play our part in supporting this type of technology, then greenhouse gas emissions and the health of our environment will continue to suffer. With every positive outcome there is usually one small draw back, but now, with a state of the art recycling service operating Australia wide, there is not such a problem with the use of fluorescent tubes/globes and lamps.

Unfortunately, not everybody is aware that fluorescent tubes and HID lamps contain small quantities of Mercury, and unbroken, these products are totally safe to handle and to use. But when broken, even the small quantity of Mercury contained in these products can pose a risk of exposure to this very toxic neurotoxin.

Because of this, there have been concerns over their proper disposal. What has been required is a total recycling solution, where these products can be safely processed and all parts of the tubes and globes fully recycled.

This is now available Australia wide and all members of the business world and the local community are encouraged to get behind it. All 14001 companies have it in their charter to ensure these products are recycled by an approved operator and not sent to landfill, and many Councils, EPA and indeed tip operators are now supporting a ban to landfill.

Spent lighting products are the largest source of Mercury contamination in our municipal solid waste systems. If such Mercury containing waste disposed at landfill, stayed there, buried and immobilised, perhaps it would not be such a problem.

However, scientific tests carried out at municipal landfills show that the metallic Mercury present in the disposed fluorescent tubes and HID Lamps is, over time, converted by the action of heat and bacteria into a very toxic and volatile form of Mercury, known as Methyl Mercury and this toxic gas is spread by the action of wind, wide into the environment.

Such tests demonstrated that the air over landfills where Mercury containing lights are disposed, contains up to 30 to 50 times higher levels of Mercury than the surrounding areas.

It has been estimated that between 50 and 70 million Mercury containing lamps are disposed of in Australia each year, dumping over 10,000 metric tons of Mercury contaminated waste into the nation's landfills. Through improper disposal methods, Mercury can travel from the soil to various water sources. Lakes, rivers and the costal oceans have been found to be polluted with Mercury, regularly rendering some fish unsafe to eat.

About 100 broken fluorescent tubes contain enough Mercury to contaminate about 4 billion litres of water above safe levels. That is the volume of water contained in over 100,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.

The main thrust and drive of what we are trying to achieve is not to make people afraid, but encourage them that, having purchased and installed the best form of energy efficient lighting, they go all the way and recycle it properly. As business people, we have a responsibility to do the right thing and ensure that all fluorescent tubes and globes are recycled, and as home owners we need to start thinking about how we can support this recycling concept.

In addition to the disposal of Mercury into our environment, we are also annually throwing out more than 500 tonne of aluminium/brass/steel, more than 9,000 tonne of glass and quantities of other expensive and very energy intensive products, which would be reused by a number of industries. The distilled Mercury is sold locally, to save importing this metal, which causes real issues with governments when transporting it into our country.

The obvious answer to the Mercury contamination of our municipal landfills is recycling.

Recycling of fluorescent and HID lights keeps Mercury, and other products, out of the environment, and places them back into the recycling chain, which is where they should be.

Advanced Recycling Australasia Pty Ltd is the only EPA licensed company in Australia, involved in the environmentally responsible recycling of all Mercury containing waste, including Fluorescent Tubes and HID lamps/globes.

The company with its Head Office based in Campbellfield, Victoria, and branches in all capital cities of Australia and in New Zealand, operates a state of the art Swedish, recycling facility, capable of recycling all lighting waste generated in Australia.

Lamps and tubes are collected directly by the company, or via third party associated waste management companies, from all sources and all parts of Australia and New Zealand. The company can supply purpose built collection stillages, or for smaller quantities, special prepaid collection boxes.

The collected material is efficiently and cost effectively recycled and customers are provided with a recycling certificate, as evidence of responsible and environmentally friendly recycling of their material.

For more information contact Advanced Recycling Australasia Pty Ltd on (03) 9308 9415, email Gary Robbins at garyr@ecocycle.com.au or Peter Bitto at pbitto@advancedrecycling.com.au or visit www.southern-ro.com.au

* Copy supplied by Advanced Recycling Australasia

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