Bulbs and fluorescent lamps that have come to their end of life should be disposed properly since they contain high amounts of mercury.
The amount of mercury in a fluorescent lamp ranges between 3.5 to 15 milligrams, depending on the type of the fluorescent lamp, the manufacturer and the date of production. This amount is enough to pollute 30 tons of water. Although lighting manufacturers have greatly reduced the amount of mercury used in lighting over the past 20 years, they are not yet able to completely eliminate the need for mercury.
Fluorescent bulbs often break when thrown into a dumpster, trash can or when they end up in a landfill. On the other hand, recycling fluorescent bulbs allows the reuse of the glass, metals and other materials that make up fluorescent lights. Virtually all components of a fluorescent bulb can be recycled.
Fluorescent lamps are the second biggest source of hazardous mercury in the waste stream and they can safely be recycled with GCL’s lamp recycling machine. At GCL, we recycle compact fluorescent lamps, straight and round tube fluorescent lamps, high intensity discharge lamps and light emitting diodes (leds).
During the recycling process, hazardous mercury and phosphor powder are collected with various filters and disposed properly avoiding any possible risks to our environment.