Lamp scheme "nonsense"

A new system for the collection and recycling of waste lamps by manufacturers has been described as “a wasted opportunity and an environmental nonsense” by recycling firm Balcan Engineering.

Recolight, the lamp industry scheme, involves the collection of whole lamps only. These are stored in large containers in designated collection points. To organise the new service, manufacturers have added a 15p surcharge to each new lamp to cover the cost.

Balcan Engineering argues that its lamp crushing service is more environmentally responsible. “The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Northern Ireland Heritage Department have exempted the use of lamp crushers from the WEEE regulations, recognising the merit of handling and transporting pre-crushed material,” explained managing director John Rinfret. “It seems complete environmental nonsense to add fleets of large, heavy vehicles to our congested roads unnecessarily.”

Balcan has researched the impact of the transport arrangements for the lamp scheme, which stipulates that the containers should be collected and replaced from each designated site fortnightly.

As forklift trucks are required to handle the containers, Balcan feels that the environmental implications are considerable. The company is offering to send its calculations to anyone interested in the issue.

“We cannot understand why all this wasn’t taken into account when the scheme was being discussed with government departments,” said Rinfret. He added: “It has been claimed that the lamps must remain whole so that the glass can be recycled. We have been categorically told by Philips in Holland that they have never been able to import any recycled glass from the UK that is clean enough for their lamp manufacture anyway.”