September 2009 (Wasteage.com): According to the U.S. Department of Energy, 397 million compact fluorescents were shipped in 2007 — a 1,790 percent increase from 2000. However, the recycling of spent household CFLs has been a failure. While an accurate household recycling rate is not known, two studies have estimated the rate to be between 2.0-6.7%. If these estimates are accurate, most intact CFLs enter municipal solid waste landfills.

CFLs are fragile and can break easily when "thrown away." The significance of the low recycling rate is the potential public and environmental health effects of the collective release of the small amount of mercury in each discarded CFL. For example, using the mean amount of 5mg per CFL, the total amount of mercury contained in the 2007 shipments of CFLs alone is 4,376 pounds.

Efficiency Maine, a program facilitated by the state's Public Utilities Commission, announced the sale of its one millionth CFL in 2008 (population of 1.31 million) through its coupon program. It is estimated that 67% of homes in that state use at least one CFL; the mean number is seven. In 2007, they created a free household CFL recycling program through a partnership with 204 retail stores. But in the program's two and a half years of operation, only 8,800 CFLs have been collected and recycled. An online survey was conducted in the spring of 2009 to determine why household recycling rate in Maine is so low:

• 28.9% of respondents disposed of CFLs as trash
• 16.2% did not know what they did with their CFLs
• 7.6% placed them into storage
• 76.8% knew CFLs contained mercury
• 23.5% stated they have recycled CFLs
• 21.6% said they have not yet had a spent CFL

In spite of the state ban, 72.9% stated they did not know that CFLs are required to be recycled. Of the respondents who knew about the recycling requirement, 17.2% of them stated they still disposed of CFLs as trash. When all respondents were asked whether they knew where they could recycle their CFLs, 64.2% said no.

The most cited factors influencing the purchase of new CFLs:

• 59.6% conserving energy
• 30.1% long-term cost savings

• 38.4% environmental responsibility
• 21.9% free recycling
• 22.2% convenience

Collectively, these and other survey responses yield two specific conclusions about the low recycling participation:

1. Lack of knowledge. Respondents consistently showed they did not know: (1) specific locations for recycling, (2) about Maine's requirement to recycle CFLs and (3) that CFL recycling can be free. Given that the respondents indicated a willingness to recycle out of a sense of environmental responsibility, targeted education on the need and location to recycle can increase the rate.
2. Convenience. There are only two primary locations where CFLs can be recycled: municipal transfer stations and 204 participating retail stores. In areas served by curbside pick-up, residents would have to make a special trip to the transfer station to recycle a CFL for a fee, or locate a participating store for free CFL recycling. For most, this too would be a special trip as only 17.1% stated that they purchased CFLs at a local hardware store compared to larger chain/box stores. Analyzing the location of the 204 participating stores raises two more problems:

• Only 113 of the state's nearly 500 municipalities are served by a participating store.
• The population centers in the state are under-represented, as the 10 cities with the highest populations, representing 20.4 percent of the state's population, collectively have only 24, or 11.7 percent, of the participating stores.

Go to Wastage.com to read more (by Travis P. Wagner)...