WASTE MANAGEMENT
Don’t be left in the dark about recycling
Nigel Harvey explains what the public sector can do to help local communities recycle low- energy light bulbs and increase recycling rates
L
ack of public awareness of the importance of
recycling low-energy
light bulbs (known as compact fluorescent lamps or CFLs) is a startling reminder that we need to ensure the correct facilities are in place, in abundance, so as to encourage recycling of this often forgotten waste stream.
The signs are positive. Research by Recolight found that 81% of people would definitely recycle their end of life low-energy light bulbs but 71% want to be able to recycle in a convenient place such as a supermarket or community location (library etc).
It is this need to provide convenient collection facilities that has motivated Recolight to partner with local authorities and retailers. Through these partnerships over 200 light bulb collection containers have been placed in recycling bring sites. Recolight has specially developed two different light bulb collection containers. The Bulbstore Maxi, an outdoor container, has been trialled with local authorities in Peterborough and Cambridge to collect end-of- life low-energy light bulbs at a number of ‘bring sites’.
These containers have been in place since April 2010 and the response has been very encouraging. The availability of the facilities is helping to raise awareness of the importance of recycling CFLs and the public is responding accordingly.
Jul/Aug 10
Following this success, the Bulbstore Maxi is now available to all local authorities on a long term lease.
To further improve the recycling infrastructure for CFLs, Recolight developed the Bulbstore Mini in partnership with students from the Open University. The Bulbstore Mini is for indoor use and has been specially designed to allow waste bulbs to gradually roll into the container via a series of shelves.
This reduces breakage as the unique and patented design minimises bulbs knocking together. It has been designed to be placed in indoor community locations such as libraries, local council receptions, post offices and village halls - any place members of the public visit on a regular basis.
The independently tested design means the Bulbstore Mini is completely safe for use in such community locations. It has also been designed to be reusable and is itself recyclable. Once it is full the Bulbstore Mini can be safely emptied and put back into use and the secure bag of old bulbs
can be bulked up for collection.
The first of many schemes to make use of the Bulbstore Mini is Recolight’s recently announced partnership with multi-award winning recycling scheme CoBRA (Community Bulb Recycling Alliance). The scheme is due to go live in September and will use the Bulbstore Mini to increase public access to low-energy light bulb collection facilities nationwide.
The partnership works by recruiting volunteers to place the Bulbstore Mini in community locations. These volunteers take responsibility for collecting the waste and taking the bagged waste lamps to a central collection facility. CoBRA was initially established to provide community recycling for waste batteries in the South West of England and collected 35 tonnes of batteries in just two years.
Increasing accessibility to and improving the infrastructure of
FOR MORE INFORMATION
To find out more about Recolight and the Bulbstore Mini and Maxi: T: 0845 601 7749 W:
www.recolight.co.uk
pse 47
recycling facilities for the public is key to Recolight’s mission of ensuring as many CFLs as possible are recycled.
Disposing of old low-energy light bulbs may often be overlooked but it is just as important as correctly disposing of other electrical and electronic items such as batteries or fridges. CFLs contain a minute amount of mercury which can be harmful to the environment in large quantities and therefore it is essential we do everything we can to keep them out of landfill.
Although the volume of CFLs reaching end-of-life is still relatively low compared to other waste streams, in the next few years this is likely to increase considerably and local authorities can get ahead of the game by putting the necessary recycling infrastructure in place now.
Nigel Harvey is chief executive, Recolight
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