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Posted By Bluemoon
Not strictly a safety related question, but I know there are some environmental people out there, so here goes.
As fluorescent light bulbs are now classed as hazardous waste and have to be disposed of accordingly (at a high cost), is there any law that would prevent us taking our waste bulbs to our local household recycling centre where they have a dedicated area for waste fluorescent tubes?
This would obviously save us money, but is it legal?
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Posted By cara
Bluemoon
If you don't have many then I would say (Personal opinion!!) its ok to take to the recycling centre. (At least you are recycling them!)
However, there are some recycling companies out there who are quite reasonable. They supply you with a box to store bulbs in which is then emptied as requested - try a Google search.
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Posted By Andy Brazier
Not sure of the legality of it, but they would be considered to be trade waste. This may mean will either not be accepted or there will be a charge.
If you only take a couple at a time, infrequently in a private car it is unlikely that the site operators will notice.
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Posted By Gareth W Jones
As far as I am aware you should have a waste transfer note to show you are disposing of the tubes correctly, be careful as an environmental inspector might ask to see the notes!!
Gareth
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Posted By Crim
Definately not legal!
You need a license to transfer hazardous waste and also need waste transfer notes to prove it is done correctly. These have to be kept for a number of years.
The business is also responsible for ensuring the waste is disposed of properly and in accordance with regulations.
Care should be taken when handling luminous discharge tubes as when broken are extremely sharp, also the powder contained within is the really hazardous part. What if you break a tube inside your vehicle and then your kids cut themselves on the hazardous glass?
If we allow this to happen will we also allow the same with other hazardous materials i.e. asbestos.
Come on folks let's do it properley after all we're supposed to be safety professionals here!
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Posted By Robert Leonard
100% Not legal.
Its is a commercial waste so therefore cannot be disposed of at a domestic refuse facility.
As a commercial waste you are subject to duty of care etc.. Part of which is that you have a legal responsibility to ensure that it is disposed of legally.
You could get caught out in a number of ways, no transfer notes if someone came to your site, or an audit at the CA site may find unusually large amounts of this waste stream which they may decide to investigate. We used to do this and went as far as going through CCTV foorage of the site and going back through the vehicle registration details.
If you are getting through a large volume get one of the onsite storage boxes and a company will come and collect them once full.
Rob.
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Posted By Tabs
Criminal actually. Those prosecuted and found guilty of such an offence will get themselves a criminal record and a fine. That could be an individual.
Really not worth the money you can save.
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Posted By Robert K Lewis
Bluemoon
They are hazardous waste and the document required for transfer is a Consignment Note not a Transfer Note. Offence committed for theuse of incorrect documentation. The record requirement is for 3 years also rather than the 2 years for transfer notes.
To put commercial waste into a Household waste site is definitively an offence. Fine is currently up to £50k on summary conviction. It is good to know that H&S is cheaper than environmental offences:-)
Bob
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