Recycling Light Bulbs – A Bright Idea
When it comes to saving the environment, every little bit counts, and an Ontario business is making the world a better place one light bulb at a time. For the past 12 years, Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers has been recycling fluorescent bulbs with a 98% efficiency rate. Pretty impressive when you consider they recycle approximately four million bulbs a year.
With Ontario bringing in new legislation for higher efficiency lights, incandescent bulbs will soon be a thing of the past. Since incandescent bulbs don't contain mercury, but fluorescent bulbs do, will we be swapping electrical savings for toxic waste? Not if we're smart about it.
According to Tom Maxwell, President of Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers, their process ensures that:
- Glass gets recycled into fiber glass
- Aluminum is cleaned and sent to smelters for recycling
- Mercury, which attaches to calcium phosphate (the white powder inside the bulb) is recycled into new products, like the next generation of fluorescent bulbs
- Calcium phosphate is used in plastics or pigments
That's the good news. The bad news? In Ontario, "We're pretty much it," Maxwell says. Quebec and British Columbia each have a similar recycling facility, but Canada has 10 provinces and three territories.
By my count we're several recycling facilities shy. Maybe it's time to shed some light on the issue for Mr. Harper - he's obviously in the dark when it comes to eco-friendly initiatives.
Charmian Christie,
Outdoor Adventure Expert
