SPSA starts recycling compact fluorescent light bulbs

CHESAPEAKE

SPSA has started recycling compact fluorescent light bulbs - those corkscrew-shaped alternatives increasingly popular in homes and businesses because they conserve so much energy.

The Southeastern Public Service Authority joins a small number of private companies that safely handle and recycle CFLs in Hampton Roads. Home Depot launched a free recycling program in July at all of its stores, and Waste Management Inc. this year started a mail-in program for a small fee.

In addition, Green Alternatives, an environmental retail store in Norfolk, accepts spent CFLs for free.

Each CFL contains a tiny amount of mercury, and SPSA is concerned about such toxic material being thrown out with regular garbage and winding up in the regional landfill in Suffolk. Once there, it could pose risks to the environment and worker safety, said Tom Kreidel, an agency spokesman.

After receiving calls from customers several months ago, SPSA decided to offer recycling at its eight transfer stations, in bins where other household hazardous wastes such as old paint and solvents are collected.

Residents are not charged to drop off their bulbs. SPSA will bill their home cities or counties later for the service, based on how much household hazardous waste is collected in total.

Because the agency already was recycling fluorescent tubes through a contractor, adding CFLs will not pose any new significant costs, Kreidel said.

AERC, a mercury-recycling company based in Pennsylvania, is handling the job for SPSA.

Lindsay Landmesser, a vice president for AERC, said collected bulbs will be trucked to Richmond and then to Pennsylvania, where they will be crushed in a large, contained machine.

Plastic and aluminum pieces will then be separated and recycled, and the remnant mercury gathered and "cooked" in large ovens, she said. This baked mercury, more than 90 percent pure, is then packaged and sold for reuse, often in CFLs.

"Business is good," Landmesser said Tuesday, noting that many businesses and government offices that have switched to CFLs are required to recycle them or handle them as hazardous waste.

"The more awareness out there that recycling is needed and possible, the better," she added.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, CFLs produce 75 percent less heat than traditional bulbs, use 75 percent less electricity and last 10 times as long.

They also are more expensive and, if broken inside a home or office, can pose a health risk because of mercury vapor. It is one reason why more CFL recycling companies and public initiatives are taking off.

Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com