Projects and Results :: Promoting Green Technology ::
WSG Helps Advocate for a Safe End for Energy-Saving Lighting
"The Whitman Strategy Group has provided us with insight into how EPA works, access to high-level officials and guidance as to how we could best gain consensus on our key issues."
- Scott Beierwaltes,
President, Air Cycle Corp.
Fluorescent light bulbs save energy, and that's a good thing. They also contain small amounts of mercury and require proper disposal at the end of their lives.
That's where the Bulb Eater comes in. Manufactured by Air Cycle, the Bulb Eater is a compact machine that safely crushes spent fluorescent lamps and captures the mercury before it can be released into the environment.
Air Cycle has already diverted millions of lamps from landfills with its Bulb Eater, its EasyPak bulb-shipping solution and other recycling services. A patchwork of state and federal regulations governing lamp disposal, however, frequently frustrated its customers.
Manufactured by Air Cycle, the Bulb Eater is a compact machine that safely crushes spent fluorescent lamps and captures the mercury before it can be released into the environment.
The Whitman Strategy Group has been helping Air Cycle pursue an open dialogue with the EPA and key state environmental officials in an effort to make recycling easier. WSG provided insight into EPA, facilitated meetings with officials and helped the agency appreciate Air Cycle's issues. On the state level, WSG reached out to environmental officials in more than 25 states to inform them about Air Cycle’s products and safety record, and to encourage more streamlined and uniform permitting procedures.
As the use of fluorescent lighting increases, the challenge to keep spent lamps out of landfills is becoming more and more urgent. An estimated 600 million fluorescent lamps are dumped in U.S. landfills each year, generating 30,000 pounds of mercury waste.
Mercury and its more toxic form, methylmercury, can have serious health and environmental consequences. Once released into the environment, methylmercury can find its way into waterways where it builds up in fish and shellfish and can be passed on to the people who eat them. At high levels, exposure to methylmercury can harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs, and immune system, and cause impaired neurological development in fetuses, babies and children.
Fluorescent light bulbs are a proven, energy-saving alternative to incandescent lighting - producing the same light with one-third the power. As more and more workplaces and now households make the switch, the future looks bright for fluorescent lighting -- and for companies like Air Cycle that ensure these lamps are disposed of safely and responsibly.