^^. April 2007
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j) Fluorescent Lamp Disposal and Recycling in EPA Region 2
A Guide for Businesses in NJ, NY, PR and VI
INTRODUCTION
Fluorescent lamps, all of which contain mercury,
are widely used by businesses, public facilities
and buildings of all types. However, many
businesses have not been properly recycling
or disposing of spent lamps. The U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and
state environmental agencies have been working
to increase awareness of the problems associated
with mismanagement of mercury, while
increasing enforcement for mishandling mercury-
containing lamps.
BACKGROUND
The allowable methods of managing spent
fluorescent lamps depend largely on the number
of lamps and other hazardous waste generated
per month1; the type and mercury content of
the lamps; and the state, commonwealth or
territory in which they are generated. There are
no completely mercury-free fluorescent lamps,
but some have a reduced amount of mercury or
contain a chemical that binds with the mercury to
reduce its mobility.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association
(NEMA) set a standard for manufacturers that
"green markings, including green lamp etches
or green component materials used in lamps,
indicate that the marked lamps consistently pass
the... Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure
(TCLP) test for all substances that were regulated
at the time of lamp manufacture."
TCLP is an analytical method used to determine
whether the bulb will leach enough mercury in a
landfill to be regulated as hazardous waste.
1 For additional information on determining
your hazardous waste generator category and associated
requirements, we recommend that you obtain a copy of
"Managing Your Hazardous Waste: A Guide for Small
Businesses" (EPA530-K-01-005), which is available, along
with other useful publications, at:
http ://www. epa. gov/osw/gen_trans/sqg_resources. htm
Fluorescent lamps that are not marked as such
(i.e., those that have an unfinished aluminum
end cap and no green marking) are generally
considered to be regulated hazardous waste
after their useful life. While it is possible to test
individual spent lamps to determine if each is
hazardous, it is typically more cost effective to
treat all non-low-mercury or non-green-marked
lamps as hazardous waste.
Although this summary only addresses fluorescent
lamps, other lamp types are commonly classified
as hazardous waste, including high-intensity
discharge (HID), neon, mercury vapor, high
pressure sodium, compact fluorescent and metal
halide lamps.
The requirements discussed below do not
apply to households, which are exempt
from these and other hazardous waste rules.
However, homeowners, tenants and landlords
are encouraged to recycle spent fluorescent
lamps, including fluorescent tubes and compact
fluorescent lamps, possibly through local
household hazardous waste collection programs.
GENERAL SPENT LAMP REQUIREMENTS
Low Mercury or Green-Marked Lamps
Because nearly 100% of all lamps placed in
dumpsters or garbage cans are likely to break
during handling or placement in garbage trucks,
thereby releasing mercury to the environment,
they should be recycled, or managed as either
universal or hazardous waste, to avoid worker
exposure to mercury. Although low-mercury or
green-marked lamps may be legally disposed of
in dumpsters or discarded with ordinary trash
under federal rules, some states have stricter
standards. For example, in New York State, these
spent lamps are subject to specific management
standards, as described in a later section of this
guide.
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Lamps That Are Not Low-Mercury/Green-Marked
Fluorescent lamps that are not low-mercury or
green-marked are generally considered to be
regulated hazardous waste after their useful life.
Bulb crushers, which crush lamps into attached
drums, are often marketed as a space-saving
alternative. However, crushing of lamps
is considered treatment and is specifically
prohibited in some states. In others, lamps may
not be crushed unless the facility first obtains
a permit from the state environmental agency.
Additionally, crushed lamps may not be managed
as universal waste; rather, they are subject to
hazardous waste requirements from the point of
generation. Check with your state for details on
rules regarding the use of bulb crushers.
Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator
(CESQG): generate less than 100 kghaz. waste
per month
If the total of these hazardous waste lamps and
other hazardous waste generated in a calendar
month is less than 100 kg (220 Ib), the facility
is a CESQG. Federal regulations require that a
CESQG not only identify the hazardous waste,
but also ensure delivery of the hazardous waste
to a proper disposal facility, which can include
a recycler, a facility permitted to take hazardous
waste, or a permitted industrial or municipal
landfill (subject to landfill approval.) In the case
of lamps, this means they may be packaged in
appropriate storage and shipping containers and
self-transported in a vehicle to minimize risk of
breakage. They may not be placed in dumpsters
or discarded with ordinary trash, where they are
almost certain to be crushed by other waste or
broken.
Small Quantity Generator (SQG) & Large
Quantity Generator (LQG): generate 100-1,000
kg haz. waste per month or > 1,000 kg haz. waste
per month, respectively
For facilities that generate more than 100 kg/
month of hazardous waste, including lamps, the
lamps may be managed as hazardous waste or
under the simpler universal waste rules, a subset
of hazardous waste.2
Lamps managed as universal waste, including
eventual shipment to a TSD facility or, preferably,
a recycler, do not count toward the determination
of hazardous waste generator category.
Therefore, if the other hazardous waste generated
is less than the 100 kg (220 Ib) per month and the
lamps are managed as universal waste, then the
other hazardous waste may be managed under the
less stringent requirements for CESQG waste.
However, if the other hazardous waste generated
is greater than 100 kg (220 Ib) per month, then
the other hazardous waste must still be managed
according to the more stringent SQG or LQG
requirements, as applicable. (See Footnote 1 on
page 1.)
Traditional lamps (i.e., not low mercury or green-
marked) that are not managed as universal waste
(i.e., hazardous waste lamps) from generation
through receipt at an allowable destination
facility must be counted in the determination
of hazardous waste generator category and
managed as hazardous waste, in compliance with
all applicable requirements, such as labeling,
container storage and use of hazardous waste
manifests.
If such lamps from an otherwise exempt source,
such as a CESQG or household, are mixed
with universal waste from a SQG or LQG, the
combined waste must be managed as universal
waste. Specifically, the combined waste must
be stored and transported in compliance with
universal waste standards, including either
recycling or shipment to a TSD facility. This
condition would similarly apply to any other
items regulated as universal waste (see footnote 2.)
2 "Universal wastes" include mercury-containing
devices, hazardous waste lamps, hazardous waste batteries
and pesticides that are recalled or collected as part of a
pesticide collection program. For further information on the
requirements, see:
http ://www. epa. gov/epao swer/hazwaste/id/univwast/
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Applicable requirements in New Jersey and
the U.S. Virgin Islands are the same as federal
regulations. However, stricter standards apply in
New York and Puerto Rico, as well as some states
outside of Region 2, and are discussed below.
New York.
In 2005, stringent management standards for
low mercury, or green-tip, lamps , which often
pass the TCLP test but are not actually mercury-
free, became effective in New York State under
the "Mercury-Added Consumer Products Law",
Chapter 145 of New York's Laws of 2004
("Chapter 145".) This law requires that all "low
mercury", or "green end cap", fluorescent lamps
be stored and delivered intact (i.e., not cracked
or broken) to a recycler or other authorized
facility. The law also prohibits generators or
waste collectors from disposing of any mercury-
added consumer products, including lamps, to
an incinerator or other facility where wastes are
burned for energy. Under the new law, only small
businesses3 that have 100 or fewer employees
(total for all locations) and discard no more than
fifteen green end cap lamps per month are exempt
from these requirements.
SQGs, LQGs and certain universal waste
generators are required to use licensed
commercial waste haulers in New York State.
The following two exemptions from transporter
licensing requirements, found at 6 NYCRR §
364.1(e)(3), apply to generators of fluorescent
lamps: (1) Any CESQG who transports less than a
total of 220 pounds (100 kilograms) of hazardous
waste or less than 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram) of
acute hazardous waste during any calendar
month, provided that the wastes are generated
and transported exclusively by the generator; and,
(2) any person who transports less than 500 Ibs
of universal waste or non hazardous industrial/
commercial waste in any single shipment.
3 Under New York States' Mercury-Added
Consumer Products Law (Chapter 145), a "small business"
is defined as "any business which is resident in this state,
independently owned and operated, not dominant in its
field, and employing not more than one hundred individuals.
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico implements its own hazardous
waste program independent of U.S. EPA. As
such, facilities must meet the state requirements,
except where federal requirements are more
stringent or broader in scope. While most of
the commonwealth's requirements are similar
to federal regulations, Puerto Rico has not yet
adopted the Universal Waste Rule. As such,
no wastes may be managed as universal waste.
Rather, all non-green tipped lamps in PR must
be managed under traditional hazardous waste
requirements based on total monthly waste
generation.
FOR ADDITIONAL
New York's Lamp Management Requirements
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dshm/
hzwstm an/bul b s2. htm
NYSDEC toll-free hotline: 800-462-6553
Email: SQGINFO@gw.dec.state.ny.us
New York State's Mercury Added Consumer
Products Law can be found at:
http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dshm/redrecy/
chapl45.html
New Jersey Universal Waste Requirements
http: //www. nj. gov/dep/d shw/1 rm/uwaste/
NJDEP Div. of Solid & Hazardous Waste
Program: 609-633-1418
Puerto Rico Junta de Calidad Ambiental
(Environmental Quality Board)
http: //www. gobi erno. pr/ JC A/Ini ci ol default
U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Planning and
Natural Resources
http: //www. dpnr. gov. vi/
You can also contact U.S. EPA Region 2's RCRA
Compliance Branch at (212) 637-4145.
This guidance does not constitute rulemaking by EPA
and may not be relied on to create a substantive or
procedural right or benefit enforceable by any person.
EPA may take action at variance with this guidance
and its internal procedures. Any variation between
applicable regulations and the information provided in
this document is unintentional and, in the case of such
variations, the requirements of the regulations govern.
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