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The recycling channels are scarce, and over 100 million energy-saving lamps in our country pose pollution risks.
Oct 30,2012
With the rapid development of the economy, the speed of electronic waste generation in our country in recent years has been astonishing. According to a report released by the United Nations Environment Programme in 2010, our country has become the second largest producer of electronic waste in the world, generating more than 2.3 million tons of electronic waste each year, second only to the United States' 3 million tons; by 2020, the number of discarded computers in our country is expected to double or triple compared to 2007, and discarded mobile phones will increase sevenfold. The recycling and comprehensive utilization of electronic waste has caused varying degrees of environmental pollution and harm to human health, which urgently needs attention.
Due to the national promotion of the "Green Lighting" project, the first batch of over 100 million old energy-saving lamps that received financial subsidies is entering a concentrated scrapping period, and the annual consumption is expected to exceed 1 billion in the future. Old energy-saving lamps contain toxic and harmful elements such as mercury and lead, and are referred to by experts as the second largest source of household waste "mercury pollution source" after waste batteries. In contrast, the recycling and disposal system for energy-saving lamps in our country is very "immature"; if not disposed of properly, the pollution risk cannot be ignored.
Concentrated scrapping threatens the environment.
In 2008, the national government launched the "Green Lighting" project, providing a 50% financial subsidy for urban and rural residents purchasing energy-saving lamps from winning enterprises, and a 30% subsidy for large users such as enterprises and institutions. In addition, donations were made to remote mountainous areas through the implementation of the "Bright Action" public welfare project.
Against this background, the promotion of energy-saving lamps across various regions in China has been very rapid. For example, from 2008 to 2011, Changsha City in Hunan Province promoted a total of 3.6 million efficient lighting energy-saving lamps, with 1.61 million promoted in 2011, which is 2.3 times the task assigned by the Hunan Provincial Development and Reform Commission.
Experts say that considering the average lifespan of the first batch of energy-saving lamps is generally 3 years, it can be judged that the first batch of over 100 million energy-saving lamps that received financial subsidies is entering a concentrated scrapping period.
Wu Defeng, director of the Changsha Two-Type Office, told reporters from the Economic Reference Daily that energy-saving lamps save 80% more electricity than ordinary incandescent lamps. The city promoted 3.6 million energy-saving lamps, saving about 179 million kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 171,000 tons. According to the comprehensive work plan for energy conservation and emission reduction released by the State Council, the national "Green Lighting" project promotes efficient lighting products nationwide through financial subsidies, totaling 150 million units, which can cumulatively save 29 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in a year, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 29 million tons and sulfur dioxide by 290,000 tons.
In supermarkets such as Walmart and Carrefour in Changsha, Beijing, and other places, energy-saving lamps are abundant. In the packaging of some international brands, there is a folded instruction manual. On the back or in a corner of this paper, there is a table of toxic and harmful substances and elements, showing that the four main components of energy-saving lamps—glass tubes, lamp heads, ballasts, and plastic parts—contain varying degrees of toxic and harmful elements such as lead, mercury, and polybrominated biphenyls. According to the "Limit Requirements for Toxic and Harmful Substances in Electronic Information Products" released by the Ministry of Information Industry, some spiral electronic energy-saving lamps exceed the limits for lead and mercury in the glass tubes, lead in the ballasts, and polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers in the plastic parts; while some energy-saving lamps exceed the lead limits in all components, with mercury exceeding the limit in the glass tubes.
The Comprehensive Office of the Changsha Two-Type Office reported that relevant studies show that the average mercury content in discarded energy-saving lamps, especially old fluorescent tubes, is about 0.5 milligrams, which is enough to cover the tip of a ballpoint pen. However, if it seeps into the ground, it can pollute about 180 tons of water and surrounding soil. In addition, when discarded energy-saving lamp tubes are broken, they can instantly cause the mercury concentration in the surrounding air to exceed the limit. Once it enters the human body, it may damage the central nervous system.
Industry experts believe that as incandescent lamps gradually disappear, the annual consumption in our country could reach over 1 billion units. Although technology has continuously improved in recent years, significantly reducing issues such as mercury pollution from energy-saving lamps, many products from early production still have prominent problems due to outdated manufacturing processes.
Lack of recycling channels.
Jin Min, director of the Department of Environmental Economics and Management at Renmin University of China, said that promoting energy-saving lamps has achieved energy conservation and emission reduction, but the issue of "being energy-efficient in use but having no channels for recycling" has become one of the prominent problems of electronic waste today.
Recently, reporters from the Economic Reference Daily visited places like Beijing and Wuhan and found that whether in supermarkets or waste recycling stations, discarded energy-saving lamps are often "not even taken for free." The owner of a lighting store in Beijing said that there was once a company that organized public recycling, but people thought they were going to refurbish and resell the energy-saving lamps. Energy-saving lamp recycling boxes need to be lined with sponge, and transportation must be done carefully; recycling is purely a "loss-making venture"!
A business manager from a lighting company said that in public welfare activities conducted in some communities in large cities in central China, it often takes half a day to collect only a few energy-saving lamps, while discarded energy-saving lamps mixed with other waste are often seen in trash cans and garbage stations, treated as ordinary household waste sent to landfills or incineration. Unfortunately, the organizers of the activities can only advise residents not to break the discarded energy-saving lamps, not to let children play with them, and to throw them away in a plastic bag.
The Shanghai Electronic Waste Trading Center has a rare set of equipment that can process 1,700 tons of discarded energy-saving lamps annually. On this processing line, staff wearing protective gear send discarded energy-saving lamps into the processing equipment, where they are crushed and mercury is absorbed. It is understood that a staff member at the Shanghai Electronic Waste Trading Center is seriously "underfed" and mainly relies on some government agencies to send over discarded lamp tubes.
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