Mercury in CFLs

Saving the planet at risk of causing another unforeseen global disaster. Greenhouse gasses versus mercury landfills which is the better of two evils and are there no other options?

Yesterday I was forwarded an email highlighting the fact that there are still traces op mercury in the CFL – energy saving light bulbs that we are all so eagerly purchasing and installing in our households to help ESKOM keep our lights on.

This report was a copy of an article which has been published more that a year ago in the MailonSunday in the UK the article title “An energy saving bulb has gone - evacuate the room now!” has been published and republished a number of times and states that the CFL bulbs has mercury in them and as that they should be treated as hazardous and harmful. You can also read a response to this article for some interesting reading.

This as the "old" fluorescent bulbs we used to have can thus be mentioned in the same vein. If one break it is preferable not to just vacuum it up, but to actually wear some protective clothing to do so. If you disperse of one, you need to treat it the same way you would treat batteries and other hazardous  waste. YOU SHOULD NOT DISPENSE BY MEANS OF THE NORMAL WASTE ROUTE.

So where to? First of all ESKOM has been so helpful as to set up a FAQ page with answers to most of  questions in terms of the hazards as well as the waste management of these light bulbs Here are some of the more interesting facts:

• All lamps that ESKOM procured for the roll-out in South Africa were predominantly manufactured in China due to there not being any local manufacturer.
• All lamps conform to RoHs (Restriction of Hazardous Substances), and/or ELI specifications.
• Since 2004 22 million lamps has been distributed in South Africa by ESKOM alone.
• The 2008 initiative saw an additional 13.6 million lamps distributed by ESKOM by November 2008.
  ESKOM envisage an additional 8 million lamps to be distributed which should see the market saturated.
• ESKOM does state that: “The cumulative impact of millions of CFLs does become a more significant issue and could present a potential risk to the environment.”  yet they continue to state that: “because of their efficient use of energy CFLs have overall environmental life-cycle benefits, despite containing mercury.”
• The following guidelines are recommended in the case of accidental breakage of a CFL:
  • Do not allow children or pregnant women to enter the affected area
  • Open windows and allow air to circulate to the affected area
  • Wear gloves, if available, as a precaution also against broken glass
  • First sweep up all of the glass fragments and phosphor powder (do not vacuum)
  • Place in a plastic bag
  • Wipe the area with a damp paper towel to pick up stray shards of glass or fine particles
  • Place the used towel in the plastic bag as well.
• ESKOM advises that home-owners take the precautions they would normally follow when disposing of household hazardous waste and make use of one of the following options (in order of preference) for CFL disposal that are available to South Africans at present:
  • Deliver lamps to any of the retailers offering a take back service for CFLs
  • Deliver used lamps to existing electronic waste (eWaste) disposal sites
  • Store CFLs in a safe place, in a non breakable container or plastic bag to contain the bulb in the event of a breakage that might occur until infrastructure is in place for the safe disposal of CFLs in your area
  • Some Municipalities provide an annual or periodic hazardous waste collection day or event. Typically, CFLs along with any other household hazardous waste such as batteries, oil-based paint or motor oil can be taken to these collection days. Check with your local authority whether these are available in your area
  • Dispose with your general waste as a last resort. Any of the options listed above are preferred but you can lawfully dispose of CFLs in your household waste. Should you revert to this option, it is recommended that you wrap the bulb in newspaper and place in a plastic bag to reduce the risk of bulb breakage, contamination of other potentially recyclable materials and to protect yourself and waste removal staff from cuts.
• Woolworths - Woolworths formally announced a planned CFL take back offering in March 2008 in collaboration with NOVA Lighting. They furthermore confirmed that suitably designed bins were rolled out to forty-six (46) Woolworths stores nationally. Consumers can make use of this service by taking failed CFLs to any of the participating Woolworths stores.
• Pick ‘n Pay - Pick ‘n Pay has developed and rolled out a similar take back service in collaboration with Philips Lighting. Pick ‘n Pay has extended the service offering to include spent batteries and bins for both these hazardous household waste types can be found in all Pick ‘n Pay stores nationally. Watch out for these bins in your local store.
• Currently, no recycling and mercury recovery facility exists in South Africa.

For the full detail go hear: http://www.eskomdsm.co.za/?q=mercury_qa#Disposal

My question is why has there not been made more of a drive from the related role-players to make people more aware of the problems and the responsibilities that goes with CFL usage and especially the disposal thereof.

Furthermore I am also concerned about the possibility of  “old” incandescent lighting becoming outlawed which will see CFL as the only affordable option for use. In this event ESKOM has already stated that they will not need to then deal with a replacement strategy. "NOTE: Should legislation be introduced to ban incandescent lamps as announced by the DME, the requirement for a replacement strategy will fall away."

This also then infer that the introduction, disposal and management of CFL usage no longer becomes ESKOM's concern.  With no recycling system available and the CFL lifespan between 2-10 years we should already be dealing with the impact of indiscriminate disposal of mercury substances due to the public not being informed.  There should already be a plan on the table not only for the management of the waste, but the recycling and an awareness to the public of these very serious issues and concerns that are raised.

It is time for us to take responsibility and force those who are able to manage and legislate to take responsibility as well.

Source:
MailOnSunday – retrieved 29 June 2009 - http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/sciencetech/article-506347/An-energy-saving-bulb-gone--evacuate-room-now.html
ESKOM – retrieved 29 June 2009 - http://www.eskomdsm.co.za/?q=mercury_qa#Disposal

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