Lorain County Fluorescent Bulb, Ballast Recycling Program

National Association of Counties

The primary purpose of the program is to reduce the amount of mercury entering the environment; the various bulbs and lamps collected each contain measurable amounts of this element. The secondary purpose is to properly dispose of the PCB's contained in some older ballasts, and to recycle the copper and other materials contained in all ballasts.

The Lorain County "Bulb & Ballast Recycling" Program, operated by the County's Solid Waste Management District, is designed to collect used fluorescent lamps, high intensity discharge (HID) bulbs, and neon lamp tubing of all shapes and sizes, then package and ship them to a certified recycler. Used lamp ballasts are also collected and similarly recycled.

The key to the successful operation of the program is the use of a new bulb crusher that accepts the most common sizes of fluorescent tubes, and packs nearly 1,000 into a single 55-gallon drum. The machine incorporates a powerful vacuum to triple-filter all the resulting dust, and captures any airborne mercury in an activated charcoal canister. The ability to ship bulbs in crushed form drastically reduces the expense, as compared to whole bulb shipping, and makes the entire program financially feasible.

Recycling Lamps with the Bulb Eater®

Crushing and storing lamps in the Bulb Eater® prior to shipment for recycling can reduce the labor needed to recycle lamps by up to 20 hours per 1,000 lamps and storage space by up to 80% over packing and storing lamps in boxes. Learn more » Bulb Eater® lamp crusher