The company has added a second line at its Trafford Park plant and is now capable of handling around 40 million lamps every year – around 8,000 tonnes of material.
 Mercury Recycling has installed a second processing line at its Trafford Park site |
Mercury Recycling designed the new machinery itself, with several engineering firms involved in its 500,000 installation.
Managing director Bryan Neill said the entire 30,000 square foot facility was now worth in the region of 2 million.
He explained that demand for lamp recycling services had grown as a result of the Landfill Directive and hazardous waste regulations. He said next year's waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations would bring further growth in demand.
Mr Neill said: “There are 122 million lamps sold every year and we have room at our plant to build a third line. We have only just increased capacity to 40 million lamps, but if the demand is there in a few years we could expand again.”
Materials
More than 99% of the materials derived from processed lamps can be recycled, although Mr Neill explained that many of the lamps being accepted at the plant are now 100% recyclable.
Metals, glass, plastics, phosphor powders and sodium are all reclaimed from the waste lamps for recycling – all of which are sold by Mercury for reuse or reprocessing. Recovered mercury can be made into new scientific instruments or new lighting equipment.
Mercury offers a nationwide collection service, called Lampsafe, for lamps from all businesses, who are given collection receptacles for their sites suitable for holding 150 fluorescent tubes at a time.
Mercury Recycling has also provided its collection drums for civic amenity sites.
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