Fluorescent Light Tube Recycling
As fluorescent light tubes are hazardous waste, they should be recycled separately to your general waste. Pure Planet Recycling helps businesses when recycling fluorescent light tubes. Our service covers all types of fluorescent light tubes, light bulbs and energy saving bulbs.
Whether you are recycling small amounts or replacing your whole lighting system, we can help. As an Authorised Treatment Facility and waste carrier, we provide a compliant service. Our staff and fleet of vehicles manage our lamp disposal collections. This allows us to give short lead times and cost-effective collections.
Our fluorescent light tube recycling service is easy and works in the following way;
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 4
STEP 5
With over 10 years’ experience you can rely on our light tube recycling service. Our staff handle all types of hazardous waste and perform risk assessments to ensure site safety.
We also provide storage containers for old tubes and bulbs. These containers reduce the risk of breakage and keep your work place tidy. If you need further advice, please see our blog post on waste light tube storage.
Please contact us for more information or to arrange a collection of your redundant light tubes.
How Is A Fluorescent Tube Recycled
Light tubes/bulbs contain good reusable materials, but they also contain hazardous components. The typical makeup of a fluorescent light tube is 94% Glass, 4% metals, and 2% Phosphor (containing mercury). Therefore, the recycling process must separate the glass and metals whilst removing the mercury. This process sounds simple but requires a recycling machine designed for the task.
The first stage is to collect the light tubes. This can be either as whole units or to crush them first. Moving complete light tubes means you can fit less onto a vehicle but crushing them first is time consuming, requires electricity and can be messy on-site. We prefer to ship light tubes in bulk as whole units to minimise the risk of spillage.
Once at the recycling facility the tubes are broken down in an airtight machine. The equipment automatically segregates the metal and glass for reuse. The hazardous phosphor powder is extracted and filtered. Now with all the materials segregated they are a commodity and be used back in the manufacturing chain. New light tubes make use of the mercury captured during recycling. Using recycled materials reduces the need for virgin materials. Most lamp recycling facilities operate at around 98% recycling rates.
You can find further information on fluorescent light tubes here. Alternatively give us a call on 01234 315496 if you have any questions?
