All of the components of the used lights are recycled into reusable/saleable raw materials [except for any polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) contained in some ballasts, which is incinerated].

Fluorescent lights and HID lamps have one important drawback: relatively high environmental costs associated with their use, specifically, the disposal costs. Fluorescent light tubes and HID lamps may be considered hazardous waste. This is due to mercury and trace amounts of lead and other metals contained in the tubes, regulated under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). Even small quantities of these metals may be potentially harmful to human health and the environment, especially when mass quantities of used tubes are landfilled. Used fluorescent light tube disposal in municipal landfills is, in fact, considered the second largest source of mercury pollution entering the environment. These pollutants can often migrate into groundwater supplies or even become airborne (due to mercury’s relatively high volatility), at which time they pose an even greater environmental threat. Thus, proper disposal and, preferably, recycling of these tubes would help reduce and prevent heavy metal pollution.

Proper handling and disposal of used fluorescent light tubes and HID lamps is becoming an increasingly expensive and problematic chore for big users of these lights. The metal content of used lights usually exceeds the threshold levels qualifying them as a hazardous waste. Unfortunately, manufacturers’ information on the heavy metal content of their fluorescent light products has too great an uncertainty to rely upon its accuracy for determination, so RCRA requires testing of representative samples. Testing of some representative samples can be done, but it is usually prohibitively expensive. It is almost always cheaper to consider all used fluorescent lights as hazardous waste than to test even representative samples.

Facilities that wish to crush fluorescent tubes on-site prior to recycling should consult their local regulatory agency first. Crushing maybe considered treatment of a hazardous waste.

Wright-Patterson AFB recycled approximately 62,000 lamps during 1998. The base currently pays an average of $.06/foot, $.85/HID and $300/load (non-hazardous waste). In addition, Peoria, Illinois Air National Guard base has started a fluorescent light tube and high intensity discharge lamp recycling program this year. The base has averaged 78 4-foot bulbs/month, 5 8-foot bulbs/month and 40 assorted other bulbs/month. The base pays an average of $.19/foot and $3.45 each for mercury vapor, high-pressure sodium and metal halide bulb.

Alto lamps have recently come on the market which are produced with low levels of mercury. These lamps have passed the EPA’s Toxic Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP), and are considered non-hazardous waste.

The compliance benefits listed here are only meant to be used as a general guideline and are not meant to be strictly interpreted. Actual compliance benefits will vary depending on the factors involved, e.g. the amount of workload involved.

Consult your local industrial health specialist, your local health and safety personnel, and the appropriate MSDS prior to implementing this technology.

• Saves landfill space;
• Reduces raw materials production needs; and
• Keeps the potentially toxic material out of landfills.

• May require hazardous waste storage or treatment permits.

Assumptions:

• $.21 to recycle a 4-foot fluorescent light tube
• Transportation for recycling $.06/bulb (12 loads/year at $300/load for 60,000 bulbs/year)
• $0.25 to $0.50 per four-foot fluorescent tube for disposal in a hazardous waste landfill (average cost: $0.38)
• Costs based on 30,000 four-foot long fluorescent light tubes
• Collection and storage costs are equivalent for both options.

Annual Operating Cost Comparison for Recycling and Disposal of Fluorescent Light Tubes and High Intensity Discharge Lamps