Mercury Lamp Recycling Information for Canadians
Canadian Lamp Recyclers
Within Canada, there are a number of options available for large businesses and institutions that wish to recycle their spent mercury-containing lamps in an environmentally safe manner. Fortunately, lamp recyclers operate in various regions of the country and service almost all provinces. Given their relatively small populations and enormous distances, remote provincial regions and the territories are not served as well.
A lamp recycler is defined as a company that receives spent lamps and reduces them to their constituent parts (glass, metals, powders and such) by processing them in an environmentally sound manner. Once processed to a commodity grade, the recovered materials are then shipped to “secondary” markets where they are reutilized as feedstock for new products. All mercury recovered by lamp recyclers in Canada is exported to the United States for final distillation.
The following list does not include companies that collect end-of-life fluorescent lamps for shipment to lamp recyclers (below) or hazardous waste disposal facilities. When purchasing new lamps or when establishing a re-lamping service, be sure to ask about environmentally sound “take back” options for your expired mercury-containing lamps.
Aevitas Inc. offers a full-service mercury-containing lamp recycling option. Aevitas is an approved recycler with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment and has three Certificates of Approval to transport and recycle lamp waste. It is currently the designated recycler for the Ontario-based “Take Back the Light” program (refer to the Lamp Collection Options fact sheet). Aevitas is committed to providing a safe, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly option for dealing with mercury and mercury-containing lamp waste. Aevitas will transport, process, and document the lamp waste it receives. It also provides annual recycling certificates detailing the volumes and weights of each element recycled and diverted from landfill. It services clients from across the country.
K-Light Recycling in Regina, Saskatchewan, services much of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Known for over 15 years for its new and reconditioned lighting products, K-Light has changed focus over the last few years to environmental lamp recycling, providing recycling programs for a wide variety of lighting products. K-Light strives to re-use or recycle 100% of the lamp components it manages.
Nu-Life Industries Inc. offers environmentally sound management of fluorescent and other mercury-containing lights and all types of batteries. Using its specially designed fluorescent lamp machine, lamps are disassembled into their components: glass, which is used in the manufacture of fibreglass; end caps, which are used by smelters; and mercury-containing phosphor powder, which is sent for removal of mercury through a distillation process. The mercury is then re-used. Nu-Life Industries is located in Aldergrove, British Columbia.
Ontario Lamp Recyclers Inc. opened a lamp recycling facility in Toronto in February 2012. The plant, with a capacity of 12 million lamps per year, has four separate Certificates of Approval / Environmental Compliance Approvals (ECA) from the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for the treatment of lamp waste. A two stage process separates the mercury vapour and mercury-rich phosphor powder from the clean and recyclable glass and metal end caps. The plant maintains a negative atmosphere discharging treated air as required by its air emissions ECA.
PROECO Corporation is a fully licensed and approved recycling and disposal facility that has run a fluorescent tube recycling program for more than 10 years. On receipt, the fluorescent lamp tubes are transferred to a processing area for recycling. Once the lamps are inserted into a self-contained lamp-crushing unit, emissions are controlled by a “High Efficiency Particle Air” (HEPA) and carbon filtration system. The components are then separated and the residuals are sent for recovery and recycling. PROECO Corporation has partnered with the Alberta Ministry of Environment's “Action on Waste” program. Their facility, located in Edmonton, Alberta, is capable of assisting with the disposal and/or recycling of all waste classes with the exception of explosives and radioactive material.
Recyclage de lampes fluorescentes AàZ inc. (RLF) is a fully licensed and approved lamp-recycling subsidiary of ChemTECH Environment Inc. RLF was established in 1996 in Coteau-du-Lac, Quebec, and offers a complete lamp-recycling service to clients in Quebec, Ontario, and the northeastern United States.
Teck Resources Limited in Trail, British Columbia, has developed a process to recycle fluorescent lamps. Lamps delivered to Teck for recycling must already be crushed. The company currently has an arrangement with Sybertech Waste Reduction Ltd., which has Canadian distribution rights for the “Bulb Eater” manufactured by Air Cycle Corporation (U.S.). Once received, the contents are sorted into two streams: (1) filter bags that contain the phosphorus-mercury powder, and (2) mixed glass, end caps and socket material (ceramic). Each stream is processed in a different plant at the Teck facility. The mercury product is recovered, sent to the United States for further refining, and eventually re-used by lamp manufacturers. The silica content is used as flux to lower the overall smelting temperature. After metal extraction is complete, the ferrous granule product is sold into the Portland cement industry. Teck provides an environmentally responsible process for mercury-containing lamp waste that maximizes metal recovery back into products for re use. Teck will provide certificates of recycling for all materials received.
It is our understanding that the above-mentioned companies are the main lamp recyclers with actual processing operations in Canada. There are a number of other companies that collect lamps from Canadian clients, but transport them to the United States for processing.
Please contact us if you know of another Canadian lamp recycler that should be included in our list or if any of the information in this fact sheet is not up to date.