Mercury Recycling
Limited, Unit G, Canalside North, John Gilbert Way,
Trafford Park,
Manchester M17 1DP
Certificate No: NSO/543825/CB
The lamp recycling process achieved
by WEREC GmbH Berlin is as follows:
The process
achieves 99% recycling.
The main constituent
of the tube, soda lime glass (approximately 85.5%) is
returned back to the lamp industry and is re-used directly
in the production of new fluorescent tubes.
The
caps (approximately 12%) are separated into three fractions:
1.
aluminium,
2.
mixed glass/plastic
and,
3.
lead-in wires
The metallic
fractions (aluminium and lead-in wires) are used as scrap
metal.
The glass/plastic
is used as an additive in place of gravel for the production
of concrete.
Phosphorescent
powder is separated into three fractions. Two types of
rare earth activated phosphor are sent to Phillips phosphor
factory where a chemical process is used to separate the
mercury from the phosphorescent powder. The phosphor is
then cleaned (most of the free mercury in the lamps is
blown out together with the phosphor powder and remain
in the phosphor). Both the mercury and phosphor are re-used
in the manufacture of new lamps. Only approximately 1%
of the phosphor powder is stored in a special landfill
site.
An 85% saving
in energy is achieved compared to production of a tube
from virgin raw material.
Cartridge Recycling – The Re-manufacturing
Process
Greencare cartridges are remanufactured
at an assembly and recycling plant in Gloucestershire.
Dirty stock (ie used, empty printer
cartridges) are sorted into product batches and inspected
for any damage.
Those cartridges segregated for
re-manufacturing are stripped to component level before being
cleaned and rebuilt replacing those parts of the cartridge
critical to print quality.
Cleaning blades, doctor blade
and recovery blades are removed and replaced if necessary
(as are any other components which show signs of wear and
tear) before the cartridge is recharged with toner.
All ink and toner supplied to
Greencare by the manufacturer are guaranteed to be compatible
with the cartridge concerned and COSHH sheets are supplied
to ensure health and safety recommendations are complied with.
The cartridge is rebuilt on the
assembly line with production workers responsible for specific
jobs on the rebuild, as opposed to one worker re-assembling
the whole cartridge where it is difficult to maintain a standard
of consistency. Once fully assembled test prints are run off
each individual cartridge before being packaged.
Cartridges are individually numbered
and batch coded for full traceability.
Any cartridges not suitable for remanufacture are stripped for parts.
Drums which are mostly aluminium are sent for smelting.
Plastic Cups
These cups are collected from
Greencare by a company called Shaw Environmental, delivered
to Save-A-Cup for bulking up and then shipped to Linpac where
they are flaked for recycling into products such as pencils,
rulers, coasters etc.
Can Recycling
Crushed cans are segregated by
type (ie aluminium or steel) and stored for bulking up to
a critical mass. Aluminium cans are then collected for recycling
by Alcan Limited; steel cans will be collected for recycling
when sufficient critical mass has been reached.
Paper
Office paper is bulk collected
at our storage site and by a local paper mill for recycling
into newspaper or tissue paper for toilet rolls.
In order to handle waste, Greencare
have been granted an exemption from the Environment Agency.
Batteries
Ni Cd, Ni MH and lithium hydride
batteries, all of which constitute special waste are collected
and stored for bulking up to a critical mass. Nickel batteries
are then sent under trans-frontier shipment regulations to
SNAM in France where cadmium is retrieved from each battery.
Lithium hydride batteries are
currently not recyclable in Europe. These are currently stored
and may either be recycled when current American technology
has been introduced to the UK or may be disposed of in special
licensed sites.
Sealed Lead Acid Batteries are
also classified as Special Waste and are collected and stored
for bulking up to a critical mass. They are then sent to a
smelting plant for processing and lead recovery.
Plastic
Bottles
We are now offering a new service
for the collection and recycling of clear plastic bottles
(i.e. water, coke, squash bottles etc. - type 1 PET).
We are also currently looking
at a collection and recycling service for opaque plastic (i.e.
milk, orange juice, etc. - type 2 HDPE). These bottles are
crushed and stored until a critical mass is achieved when
they are processed and the HDPE is recycled into twin-wall
drainage products (which we in turn use as outdoor stillages
for tubes – complete ‘closed loop recycling’).
