Waste Management, Inc. (Waste Management) will offer compact fluorescent lightbulbs (CFLs) in recyclable packaging to Earthmate, a business unit of Litetronics International, Inc. that doubles as a CFL recycling kit. This new product incorporates Earthmate CFLs packaged in a resealable box lined with company's Mercury VaporLok technology that is designed to minimize the risk of airborne mercury exposure and environmental contamination from lamps broken during storage and shipping.

The box is appropriate for storing used CFLs and is approved for shipping by the US Postal Service. Consumers return utilized CFLs in a postage paid shipping container to the Waste Management lamp recycling center by simply mailing them from home or any one of over 34,000 US Postal Offices across the country. The company’s streamlined online service for the recycling of universal household waste, incorporating CFLs, batteries, and household electronics.

We are excited to be the first company to offer this innovative product, designed to help consumers properly dispose of household universal waste as safely and conveniently as possible, stated Rick Cochrane, senior business director of Waste Management’s LampTracker program.

We are offering consumers the first ‘cradle-to-cradle’ solution for CFL usage, stated Jim Ouellette, vice president of Earthmate. Now consumers can purchase and recycle their CFLs in one package and from the convenience of their home. The kit is the simplest and most convenient solution for the disposal of CFLs.

CFLs have gained popularity as they offer a quick and convenient way for households and businesses to minimize their electricity consumption. According to the US Department of Energy’s ENERGY STAR program, CFL shipments have grown from 21 million lamps in 2000 to nearly 400 million lamps in 2007. Assisted by the new National Energy Plan that phases out certain incandescent models in the coming years, it is projected that over four billion CFLs will be in households by 2012.

CFLs are up to 75% more energy efficient than the traditional incandescent bulbs, but as CFLs has trace amounts of mercury, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommends they be recycled and some states have passed mandatory recycling laws for CFLs. Earthmate CFLs has an average of only one milligram of mercury, a 75% reduction compared to the four milligrams of mercury in standard CFLs.

With the increasing popularity of CFLs, it is important to develop a recycling solution that is easy for consumers to use, stated Matt Hale, director of EPA’s Office of Solid Waste. EPA applauds Earthmate and Waste Management for taking the first steps to expand recycling options for CFLs, reduce the amount of usable materials going to landfills and make recycling a CFL as easy as mailing a postcard. EPA encourages other companies to follow this example.

Waste Management is a US-based provider of comprehensive waste management services.