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ngleyAdvance Langley Advance
Friday, October 15, 2010 A19
www.langleyadvance.com/live-green
Waste management
Disposal business shines new light on recycling Edmonds Recycling takes used lights, lamps, and ballasts.
by Roxanne Hooper rhooper@langleyadvance.com When Thomas Edison first introduced the light bulb in the late 1870s, it’s unlikely the famous scientist and American inventor imagined an entire industry being created around the disposal of those bulbs. But such a green business exists in downtown Langley, and it’s literally growing in leaps and bounds, said computer geek turned selfproclaimed recycling hound Scott MacKinnon. Steve Pal has been working indirectly in the recycling business for years as owner of Edmonds Batteries – a company with three automotive battery sales and recycling outlets in the Lower Mainland – including one on Industrial Avenue in Langley. So helping create a subsidiary
company called Edmonds Recycling wasn’t a giant leap for Pal. But it was a bit more of a stretch for MacKinnon, who partnered with Pal in November 2008 to initially divert a glut of household batteries destined for the landfills. “We noticed some gaps in the way things were being recycled, some needs – if you will,” MacKinnon said. And while the subsidiary of Edmonds Batteries started by focusing on the household batteries, today the majority of business is focused on recycling fluorescent lights, lamps, and ballasts for businesses and institutions from throughout the Lower Mainland. It’s been a heck of a ride for MacKinnon, who explained how the business grew and completely changed direction in just a few short years. When he was initially calling on clients to dispose of the household batteries, MacKinnon kept hearing the same questions: “Since you do this, do you know what we can do with these?” referring to the fluorescent lights and tubes.
Recycle Your Old TV And Save On Your Energy Bills
Recycling is not just for paper and plastic anymore. Now you can also recycle your old TVs, computers, monitors, printers and fax machines – and save money at the same time. “Most people don’t know that the extra TV they’ve got sitting upstairs in the guest room where it gets used maybe once a year is actually costing them money every day,” says BC Hydro’s Kari Reid, Program Manager in Residential Marketing. “As long as that TV is plugged in – whether it’s turned on or not – it’s using energy. And it’s adding up on their electricity bills.” Virtually all electronic devices – TVs, computers, printers, modems, DVD players, cell phone chargers and anything else with a clock, timer, adapter, memory or remote control – continue to draw power even when they’re not in use. With the average Canadian home today boasting more than 25 electronic devices, you can bet that at least some of those devices remain plugged in, even when they’re old or broken. But just tossing your out-of-date electronics in the local landfill is not the answer. “TVs, like computers and other electronics, have components that should be recycled,” says Kari. “The best thing is to take your unused electronics to a Return-It™ Electronics recycling depot, where they will get broken down safely and properly.” The Return-It™ Electronics recycling program is managed by Encorp Pacific (Canada) on behalf of the Electronics Stewardship Association of British Columbia. The ESABC established the program in 2007 (in addition to its Return-It™ Beverage and Milk Container recycling programs) to respond to the fast-growing issue of e-waste. “New and better products keep coming on the market all the time,” says Kari, “and we’re snapping them up. Who
Roxanne Hooper/Langley Advance
High-intensity discharge (HID) lamps are among the many lighting products handled by Edmonds, explained operations manager Scott MacKinnon. “We found that there was a really big need, when we got into this end of the business,” MacKinnon said, noting that because of mercury content in fluorescent bulbs, they cannot just be thrown into the garbage. “Most four-foot tubes or compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) contain anywhere from four to 50 milligrams of mercury each. Now Advertorial
that may not seem like much, but that may be about 580 pounds of mercury per year in Canada alone that seeps into our groundwater,” he explained. “Animals and humans alike may ingest mercury allowing it into the blood stream, body tissue and organs. Mercury remains in our body and does not dissipate. It is a known carcinogen [cancer-
causing substance] which has long-term health and potentially life threatening effects. We have the solution to this environmental disaster,” MacKinnon said. While a provincial program called LightRecycle started up July 1 to dispose safely of the burned-out fluorescent lights used for residential purposes (up to 16 bulbs), there was still a gap for companies needing to get rid of large quantities. Recognizing a lack of options for bulk bulb recycling – while also realizing their efforts in household battery recycling was about to dry up July 1, 2010 ,when the province introduced free recycling for that commodity – the need to transition the small company was apparent, MacKinnon said. While the parent company still does large quantity automotive battery recycling, Edmonds Recycling has redirected its focus almost exclusively on the lights – working not so much with individual residents but government agencies, large employers, property developers, and other clients who are dealing with hundreds and thousands of lights. continued on page A21…
doesn’t want a sleek new flat-screen TV? But some people are just throwing their outdated electronics in the trash, or simply putting them in a drawer or a closet because they don’t know what else to do with them. Some people, too, are just moving them to another room where they stay plugged in but unused – which is just wasting energy. We want to see unused electronics unplugged, then disposed of properly.” “Once you’ve done that,” says Kari, “there are a number of other things you can do to reduce your energy use.” For example: ! Plug all your related electronics, like your computer, modem, monitor and printer, into a single power bar, then switch them all off at once when you’re not using them. ! Switch to a laptop. A typical laptop computer uses approximately 55 kwh/year compared to a typical desktop and monitor that uses approximately 290 kwh/yr. ! Unplug your cell phone and other chargers as soon as the battery is topped up. ! If you’re in the market for a new TV, look for one with the ENERGY STAR® label – it will use as much as 50 per cent less energy than a less-efficient model. ! As a general rule, the larger the TV the more energy it uses. Make sure your TV is the right size for your room by dividing the distance between where you’ll be sitting and the front of the screen by 2.5. “It can take more electricity per year to keep your DVD player in standby mode than it actually uses playing DVDs,” says Kari. “Unplug it or turn it off at a power bar and you’ll save energy. And as I said before, get rid of your unused TV! If just one in 10 households in British Columbia recycled just one unused television, it would save enough energy to provide all of Squamish with electricity for more than a year.” To find out more about the Return-It electronics recycling program or to find a recycling depot near you, please visit return-it.ca/electronics.