An Inside Look at the Fluorescent Lamp Recycling Process

We are often asked if the lamps we sell are made out of the lamps we recycle.  It is a great question and makes us realize that our customers want to know how fluorescent lamps actually get recycled.  Here is an inside look at what EverLights does with your bulbs.

EverLights believes in a zero landfill recycling process and we recycle the lamps using the most efficient and clean lamp recycling machine in the industry.  Our recycling technology can process up to 5,000 linear fluorescent lamps every hour. The machine sucks in the lamps and sends them through a crushing/filtering process that separates the lamps into four reusable products:  glass, aluminum end caps, phosphor powder, and mercury.  This crushing, filtering and cleaning process all happens inside the machine, reducing any chance of mercury contamination in the facility.

Once the lamp is recycled to this state, the four products are distributed to various industries for reuse in manufacturing.  The phosphorous powder and mercury goes back to the lighting industry and the glass and aluminum end caps go into fiber glass insulation and new aluminum products.

If you still want to learn more about the lamp recycling process and the machine itself, take a moment to watch this video from the manufacturer.

You Don’t Have to Stock Up on Incandescent Bulbs

As January 1, 2012, draws nearer, so do some of the new lighting regulations that were signed into place by George W. Bush in 2007. In response to the new law, a lot of people have started stocking up on incandescent bulbs. It’s not uncommon for someone to walk down the light bulb aisle at a local store and buy out the entire stock. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires light bulb manufacturers to improve the efficiency of incandescent bulbs by 25 percent. That doesn’t mean these manufacturers have to stop making incandescents, they simply need to make them more efficient. Even though they can still produce these incandescent bulbs, lighting companies realized it makes more sense to focus their efforts on making newer products better, rather than wasting energy on improving incandescent bulbs. That’s why the die-hard incandescent bulb enthusiasts have started worrying. What’s going to happen if, and when, there are no more incandescent bulbs left on the market? We want to take this opportunity to convince you that the incandescent phase out is in fact a good thing.

Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFLs)

CFLs are hot right now. (Not really though. Incandescent bulbs give off way more heat). With the reduction in incandescent bulb manufacturing, CFLs have become a lot more popular, and with good reason. Incandescent bulbs have an average lifespan of 1,500 hours. CFLs, on the other hand, have an average lifespan of 10,000 hours. Your business can save up to 75% on it’s energy bill by switching to CFLs. Walmart offers a perfect example of how much money can be saved by making the switch. The company decided to replace all of its lighting with fluorescent lamps. In turn, it saved $6 million per year in energy costs. Even if your company is nowhere close to the size of Walmart, the percentage you can save could drastically alter the way you run your business.

Obviously CFLs have flaws, just like anything else. The biggest turnoff for most people is that a lot of CFLs are not dimmable, but that trend is changing quickly. Lighting manufacturers have found ways to create dimmable CFLs, and offer lamps in all shapes, sizes and colors. The other big concern for a lot of us is the mercury inside these lamps. As long as we all follow the proper procedures for handling and recycling old lamps, there is no reason to worry. Companies like EverLights exist to make the recycling process as easy as possible for your business.

Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)

LEDs aren’t nearly as popular as CFLs right now, but they will be some day. LEDs last for an average of 60,000 hours (nearly 7 years), and use 82% less energy than incandescent bulbs. They also contain no mercury or other hazardous material, and therefore don’t have any laws or regulations on disposal. You may be asking yourself, “Why are they telling me to use CFLs if LEDs are so much better?” The answer to that is simple. LEDs are still a fairly new technology, and the price for these lamps is more than most people want to pay for lighting. So be on the lookout for LEDs to become more popular as the prices begin to drop.

As incandescent bulbs are phased out, there’s no need to worry about how you’re going to light your office. The lighting manufacturers have it all under control. Pretty soon, you’ll be saving money on your energy bill, and you won’t even notice the lights were changed.

EverLights offers lamp, ballast, battery and electronic waste recycling. Please feel free to contact us at any time by phone: (773) 734-9873, by email at info@everlights.com, or on our website.

Save Some Green With CFLs

“Green Office Tip of the Week” is a section of the blog we’re going to implement to help you and your business become more sustainable. Every week we’ll post something you can do to cut back on costs and help the environment. Sounds like a great combination, doesn’t it? Here’s your first tip:

Replace any incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs. CFLs use 1/3 less energy, making them four times more energy efficient, and they last ten times longer than regular incandescent bulbs. In some tests, they burned brightly for 10,000 hours, while standard bulbs burned for just 800 to 1,500 hours.

Most experts believe that the combination of less energy used and the amount of hours a bulb can burn adds up to $30 in savings, per bulb. Think about how much savings that could mean for your business over the course of a year. Lighting accounts for 37% of the average energy budget. By switching to CFLs, your company could cut energy costs drastically.

If everyone replaced just one incandescent bulb with a CFL in their home it would save enough energy in one year to power 2.5-3 million homes. It would also prevent the emission of green house gases equivalent to that of 800,000 cars. These numbers aren’t limited to homes, however. Plenty of businesses have switched from incandescents to CFLs. Has yours? If not, try bringing it up during your next meeting. If you want more facts about CFLs, click here.