INDUSTRIAL LIGHTING
FluoroCycle is only one of two industry schemes to be accredited by the Australian Government.
Accredited voluntary product stewardship arrangements are authorised to use the Australian
Government’s Product Stewardship logo. FluoroCycle’s use of the logo signals to business and the
community that the scheme represents best practice for an Australian product stewardship initiative.
the scheme. The two national lamp recyclers,
CMA Ecocycle and Toxfree, have been pivotal to
the ongoing success of FluoroCycle which has
seen a 378% increase in the volume of mercury
recycled. Prior to the launch of the scheme in
June 2010 only 24.5 kilograms of mercury was
recycled and by June 2016 the amount of mercury
recycled had increased to 117 kilograms. Over
1,000 tonnes of lighting waste was collected
during 2015/16. There are over 300 FluoroCycle
Signatories including many major corporates such
as Ausgrid, John Holland Group, Kmart, National
Australia Bank and Westpac Group as well as
several federal government agencies such as
the Department of Human Services. Peak bodies
also supporting the scheme include the Facilities
Management Association of Australia (FMA) and
the National Electrical and Communications
Association (NECA).
Many major utilities have become signatories
to FluoroCycle and have made a commitment
to recycle their end-of-life street lighting.
Around 58% of street lighting is currently
recycled in Australia, which is just over one
million street lights. Street lighting generally
contains the highest levels of mercury used
across industry and has been a major priority
for the FluoroCycle scheme. Recently Australian
Standards have been amended to allow for the
use of LEDs in street lighting. It is hoped that
with the increased awareness of the importance
of recycling mercury-containing lamps within
local government and major utilities all
decommissioned lamps will be recycled during
this technology transition.
The recycling process
All the elements in mercury-containing lamps
can be recycled - mercury, aluminium, glass and
phosphor powder. It is essential that lamps are
not broken while being transported to the recycler
or collector. Once a lamp is broken the mercury
may be released. At the end of a lamp’s life the
majority of the mercury remains in the phosphor
powder. The lamps are crushed to extract the
phosphor powder. The phosphor powder is then
placed in a mercury retort or oven to recover the
elemental mercury. The mercury is currently sold
to a dental amalgam manufacturer in Australia.
Lamp recycling options
There are several lamp collection options
available depending on the facility or building’s
requirements - for example, stillage bins, prepaid
cardboard boxes, boxes on site and collection by
electricians during scheduled maintenance and
re-lamping.
Benefits of FluoroCycle signatory status
• Contributing to a reduction of mercury entering
the environment.
• S
ignatories receive public recognition for their
commitment to the environment.
• S
ignatories have full use of the Australian
Government Product Stewardship logo to be
used in conjunction with the FluoroCycle logo.
• T
here are no fees to become a FluoroCycle
signatory.
For more information please visit
www.fluorocycle.org.au
GOVLINK » ISSUE 3 2016
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