Joshua Harrison

 There are two key environmental factors that affect the price of a CFL light bulb;  Materials and Energy used in Production.  Legislation Regarding Disposal of a CFL.

 Manufacturing a CFL light bulb costs more money than it does to manufacture a incandescent bulb, why? CFL Larger number of electrical materials Mercury Substance Higher Product Inspection Quality Control Costs Increased amount of energy needed Environmental Problems

 Total Energy input for manufacturing a bulb.

 Correct disposal of a CFL is critical because of the harmful substance of Mercury that is present in the actual bulb.  In the EU, CFL lamps is a product subject to the WEEE recycling programme it states; “”“” Since compact fluorescent lamps contain noxious substances (mercury), they have to be disposed of in Europe as hazardous waste under EWC Code * “Fluorescent tubes and other mercury- containing waste”. Being in the scope of EU Directive 2002/96/EC - WEEE – compact fluorescent lamps at end of life shall not be disposed of together with household waste. Within the EU they are taken back free of charge at certain national collection facilities if coming from private households or in comparable quantities also from other sources. Elcfed. (n.d).

 Because of the WEEE Directive, CFL bulbs need to be disposed of without the user paying a fee, this means the only way manufacturers can deal with disposing them is to increase the price that the CFL retails at to cover the costs in the final stage of the product life cycle of the CFL, the disposing. As stated by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association: “...as EPA estimates the cost of properly recycling bulbs to be from $0.50 to $2.00 per unit. This makes the cost per gram of mercury recovered through recycling CFLs enormously high, given the di minimus amount contained in each bulb and the costs associated with collection and processing. Moreover, efforts to adjust retail prices of CFLs to incorporate recycling costs could increase the price of CFLs by 50% or more...” (National Electrical Manufacturers Association, Oct 2008)

ResourceProductionTransportUseDisposal Increased amount of energy needed Environmental problem from substances Free Disposal (under WEEE directive) Levels of mercury, needs to be disposed of properly Increased Retail price of Product

 Energy Star. (n.d), Switch and Save, Choose compact fluorescent light bulbs! Retrieved November 26, 2008, from:  The Watt, (2008) Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs – A Tale From Dust to Dust. Retrieved November 28, 2008 from:  Elcfed. (n.d), Environmental information on compact fluorescent lamps. Retrieved November 28, 2008, from: t%20Lamps.pdf t%20Lamps.pdf  National Electrical Manufacturers Association (2008) Recycling Household CFLs. Retrieved November 27, 2008, from: Household_CFLs.pdf Household_CFLs.pdf