Why can't energy saving lamp recycling be handy

Compared with ordinary incandescent lamps, energy-saving lamps not only have good lighting and power saving effects, but also have a long service life. However, waste energy-saving lamps contain mercury and other toxic and harmful elements and are called “mercury sources of mercury” in household garbage by experts.

According to reports, at present, there are hundreds of millions of waste energy-saving lamps in China that are entering a centralized retirement period. How to rationalize and regulate the recycling of used energy-saving lamps is becoming a current environmental protection problem that should be faced. In this regard, the author conducted in-depth visits.

Household end-of-life energy-saving lamps have low recycling value and waste recycling is not to be seen

It is understood that there are mercury, lead, and polybrominated biphenyls and other toxic and harmful elements in the four major components of worn-out energy-saving lamps, including caps, lamp caps, ballasts, and plastic parts. Data shows that the mercury contained in an energy-saving lamp will pollute about 180 tons of water and surrounding soil after seeping into the ground.

According to the industry, with the improvement of process technology, the mercury content in new energy-saving lamps has become very small, but the early production of energy-saving lamps, because of the relatively backward technology, mercury pollution and other issues are more prominent. The service life of energy-saving lamps is about 3 years, which means that it has reached the stage where the products of the energy-saving lamps are initially scrapped.

So, how to deal with waste energy-saving lamps? Reporters randomly interviewed more than a dozen citizens on this issue and found that after the energy-saving lamps used by households are scrapped, there are basically no standardized recycling channels. "After the old energy-saving lamps are thrown away, what can we do? We don't need to recycle the waste." As the public said, I have consulted a number of community waste recycling stations and none of them said that they would recycle used energy-saving lamps.

A staff member of a recycling facility near the South Second Ring Road in Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, said directly: “The energy-saving lamp has only the metal value of the lamp cap, but it is too laborious to go out and the other parts have basically no available value.”

Waste recycling station does not receive, that sales company? I also visited lighting and hardware stores and other places selling lighting appliances, there are various styles, various uses of energy-saving lamps sales, prices ranging from a few yuan to tens of dollars. When reporters asked a merchant about how to deal with a waste lamp, the majority stated that they were not responsible for recycling used energy-saving lamps.

The author asked whether or not the energy-saving lamps contain mercury and cause pollution to the environment. A staff member who sells the lamps and lanterns said: “You know, but the manufacturers do not recycle. We can't handle it here.” According to the staff member, the energy saving of their sales. The lamps are all guaranteed for one year. If the energy-saving lamp is damaged within one year, it can be used for replacement. If it is used for more than one year, the manufacturer will not recover it.

Why recycle the company?

High recovery costs make the company deterred

The author learned from the visit that it is not that there are no manufacturers responsible for recycling used energy-saving lamps, but that these manufacturers with recycling conditions are just a few of the many energy-saving lamp producers. Shi Jianzhuang Zhiyuan snow Wright Lighting Appliance Co., Ltd. Manager Wang Jianqiang told reporters that under normal circumstances, the short-listed "high-efficiency lighting product promotion project," the successful bidder, in addition to the promotion of subsidies, but also bear the responsibility of recycling used energy-saving lamps.

“Since the promotion of energy-saving lamps in 2008, the country has promised a warranty period of two years. During the warranty period, the energy-saving lamps can be replaced with new ones. If the warranty is exceeded, the winning companies will be free to recycle according to regulations.” Wang Jianqiang introduced that since 2008, he has been The company began to assume the national financial subsidies to promote the promotion of high-efficiency lighting products in Hebei Province. In a few years, it has promoted 7 million efficient lighting products. With the advent of energy-saving lamps, the recycling of used energy-saving lamps began to rise, but the recovery rate is not high. "About the year 2010, the recycling rate of waste lamps was less than 10%. By the end of the two years, it could basically reach more than 20%. Compared with other regions, the recovery rate was high. However, from the perspective of the entire market, this ratio Still too small."

According to reports, the low recycling rate is partly due to people’s lack of understanding of the pollution hazards of energy-saving lamps. On the other hand, under the incomplete market supervision system, the high cost of recycling has deterred many manufacturers. “Locally successful bidders basically do not have the ability to dispose of used energy-saving lamps. The collected waste products need to be transported to some manufacturers in the south for professional processing.” Wang Jianqiang said that companies recycling free used energy-saving lamps to consumers is a free form of recycling. However, if you want to send it to a professional processing plant, you need to pay for it. Generally, the cost of processing a lamp is between 1 and 2 yuan. "In addition to long-distance transportation costs, packing and transportation expenses before transportation, etc., these expenses need to be paid by the recycling companies themselves, and the cost is quite high."

High recycling costs, processing costs are not low. The reporter learned that the cost of energy-saving lamp recycling lines is approximately 10 million yuan each. Larger lighting companies generally require two or three processing lines. Because the cost of recycling and processing old energy-saving lamps is high, general production companies do not recycle them. . Currently, only three domestic energy-saving lamp manufacturers have recycling facilities.

“It is also due to these reasons that in addition to the successful bid for the 'Green Lighting' project, the remaining three to four thousand energy-saving lamp companies that have not won the bid will not set up recycling of used energy-saving lamp business,” Wang Jianqiang said.

Promote effective, why not recover?

Related support and guidance also need to increase

Compared with ordinary incandescent lamps, energy-saving lamps not only have good lighting and power saving effects, but also have a long service life. With the support of policies, energy-saving lamps are gradually becoming the first choice for citizens to use lighting equipment. In 2008, the state launched the "Green Lighting" project. The energy-saving lamps used by urban and rural residents to purchase and use successful companies were subsidized by finance by 50%. Large enterprises such as enterprises and institutions purchased subsidies of 30%. It is also from 2008 that Hebei Province launched the “Green and Efficient Lighting Project” and promoted energy-efficient lamps with state financial subsidies. In 2011, it also announced plans to promote 5 million efficient lighting lamps throughout the province.

It is understood that in the first half of 2012, the National Development and Reform Commission proposed to expand the scale of low-mercury energy-saving lamps. On the basis of the completion of the 150 million energy-saving lamps of the promotion plan of the year, depending on the situation, an additional 50 million low-mercury energy-saving lamps will be promoted.

The author understands that, in addition to the rigid regulations on the winning bidder, no other rigid requirements for the recycling of energy-saving lamps have been found.

It is reported that even if the content of mercury is small, the waste of energy-saving lamp bulbs, the remaining glass, mixed powder, etc., will cause environmental pollution to varying degrees. So, how to solve the energy-saving lamp recycling problem? “The easiest way is to set up a recycling point and then collect and collect it harmlessly.” An environmentalist who once participated in the recycling of used batteries stated that the unified recycling of energy-saving lamps requires the support and guidance of government departments. “You can use paid recovery methods to encourage and guide the public to sell discarded lamps to various collection points. The government should appropriately subsidize the cost of energy-saving lamp recycling points and energy-saving lamp recycling companies' safe recovery of energy-saving lamps.”

It has been learned that some countries now have legislation that prohibits the direct use of energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs in conventional garbage bags. At the same time, a certain period of time is stipulated for the recycling of used energy-saving fluorescent light bulbs to facilitate residents. In some areas, the mercury content in the fluorescent tubes is controlled at about 5 mg, because this amount can be recycled and placed on the ballpoint pen tip.

Will low-mercury energy-saving lamps be replaced by LED lamps in the future?

The price is difficult to promote, is still at the "educational consumption stage"

With the continuous advancement of science and technology, people are now looking for more energy-saving, more environmentally friendly materials to replace ordinary energy-saving lamps, LED lights came into being. “In the future lighting market, the replacement of low-mercury energy-saving lamps by LED lamps will become an unquestionable fact.” This is a common view in the industry.

It is reported that LED lamps save 60% energy compared to energy-saving lamps and 90% less than incandescent lamps. In terms of service life, the service life of LED lamps is up to 30,000 hours, which is 5 times that of energy-saving lamps and 20 times that of incandescent lamps.

According to Xu Jianwu, the person in charge of Hebei Longquan Electric Co., Ltd., the light emitting principle of LED lamps is through a light emitting diode, a solid-state semiconductor device that can convert electrical energy into visible light, and can directly convert electricity into light. Its “heart” is a semiconductor wafer that is encapsulated in epoxy resin. It is small and has no toxic materials. It is more environmentally friendly than ordinary energy-saving lamps.

In the interview, it was found that LED lighting is still only a market that has just started. Everyone is promoting, but it is only at the "educational consumption stage." Among the many citizens interviewed, half of them did not know what the LED lights were, and many people who had knowledge of LED lights expressed “not used”.

"LED lamps are difficult to popularize. In addition to lack of awareness, they are more than three times the price of ordinary energy-saving lamps, and also weaken people's buying enthusiasm." Xu Jianwu said that at present, in the retail market, one is equivalent to 12 watts of energy-saving lamps. The brightness of the LED lights, priced at about 25 yuan, but energy-saving lamps only need more than ten dollars. If you only calculate from a simple purchase, LED lights are indeed expensive. But from the point of view of energy saving and environmental protection, LED lights are more suitable. Today's LED lamps are the same as the "encounter" faced in the initial promotion of energy-saving lamps. However, with the continuous development of process technology, the cost reduction, coupled with the support of governments at all levels, the future lighting market will be more environmentally friendly, more energy-efficient The direction of development.