Green and eco-friendly are more than mere buzzwords in the present world. The eco-conscious are seen using energy-efficient compact florescent bulbs to do their bit to save the environment. But what happens to these energy-efficient glows after they have lived their share of life? Well, they are seen polluting beautiful landscapes. To avoid this situation, the Total Reclaim processing facility in South Seattle comes into the picture.
The place in South Seattle can be seen filled to the rim with old fluorescent bulbs, where they are revived through recycling. The bulbs containing mercury in small amounts are handled as toxic waste, and the rest is broken down and reused. The bulbs with ballasts at the base are broken extracting the glass from the ballast. Then the glass is sent to the breaking chamber, where the mercury powder inside is trapped and reused. As for the ballasts, they go to the company’s electrical equipment recycling plant.
Total Reclaim recycled some 3 million fluorescent bulbs in the preceding year. It is associated with retailers like Ikea, McLendon Hardware and Bartell Drugs, which take back the old CFL bulbs for free and pay to have them recycled. The company hopes to do better than last year by preventing more fluorescent bulbs from going into the landfills.