United States             Solid Waste and
                     Environmental Protection      Emergency Response          EPA530-F-94-022
                     Agency                (5305)                   July 1994

                     Office of Solid Waste
ŁEPA         Environmental
                     Fact  Sheet
                     Options Proposed for Managing
                     Discarded Fluorescent and Other
                     Lights that Contain Mercury

        Background
          Mercury-containing lamps include fluorescent, high-pressure
        sodium, mercury vapor, and metal halide lamps. Fluorescent and high
        intensity discharge (HID) lamps are energy efficient and consume less
        electricity, reducing the generation of pollution from utility plants.
        However, these lamps generally are considered hazardous waste under
        Subtitle C of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
        because of their mercury content. Therefore, fluorescent and other
        mercury-containing lamps must be disposed of as hazardous waste
        (unless they are generated by households or conditionally exempt small
        quantity generators).
          Many existing and planned energy conservation programs
        encourage the installation of energy efficient lighting systems,
        including the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) voluntary
        energy conservation program, Green Lights. Fluorescent bulbs are the
        most commonly used energy efficient  lights, with approximately one
        billion in use throughout the U.S. About half—or 500 million—of these
        lamps are disposed of by large-scale facilities, both public and private.
          Upgrading and maintaining energy efficient lighting systems often
        means that businesses replace all of their lamps at once. As a result,
        some businesses become hazardous waste generators of mercury-
        containing lamps when they normally are exempt from Subtitle C
        regulation.

        Action
          This proposal contains two options for managing spent mercury-
        containing lights (such as, fluorescent bulbs and HID lamps).
          •  Option one would exclude mercury-containing lamps from
             regulation as hazardous waste if they are disposed of in
             municipal solid waste landfills (MSWLFs) that are registered,
             permitted, or licensed by states with EPA approved MSWLF
             permitting programs, or in state registered, permitted,  or licensed

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      mercury-reclamation facilities. Under this option, incineration of
      lamps in municipal waste combustors would be prohibited.
   •  Option two would add mercury-containing lamps to the proposed
      universal waste system for certain widely generated hazardous
      wastes (primarily nickel-cadmium batteries and cancelled
      pesticides). This option would allow generators to ship their
      lamps without a hazardous waste manifest and store lamps for a
      longer period of time.
   EPA is considering these two options for the management of spent
mercury-containing lamps based on data which indicate that these
lamps may be safely managed outside of the RCRA hazardous waste
system or within a reduced regulatory structure under it.

Contact
   For more information or to order a copy of the Federal Register
notice, contact the RCRA Hotline, Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 7:30
p.m. EST. The national, toll-free number is (800) 424-9346; TDD (800)
553-7672 (hearing impaired): in Washington, D.C., the number is (703)
412-9810, TDD (703) 412-3323.
   Copies of documents relevant to this action may be obtained by
writing: RCRA Information Center (RIC), U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency, Office of Solid Waste (5305), 401 M Street SW, Washington,
D.C. 20460.

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