Light bulbs, more than 2 million kg collected in 2015

Questo post è disponibile anche in: Italian

The data by Ecolamp shows an increase of 4% compared to 2014. More and more citizens bring waste to recycling points.

Over 2 million kg of light sources – lamps and bulbs of all sizes – were collected throughout the national territory in 2015, 4% more than the previous year. This data comes from Ecolamp, the leading consortium that deals with the collection and recycling of this particular category of Electrical and Electronic Waste (WEEE).

Recycling is increasing among private citizens. The participation of Italian consumers in 2015 amounted to 951 tons, about 100 more than in 2014. This waste quota comes from more than 1,840 recycling points served by the Ecolamp Consortium and mostly meant for the delivery of waste by private citizens.

Ecolamp underlines that this is collection channel is significantly growing compared to 2014: it experienced an increase by + 11%, partially due to the participation of some professional users – previously only served by Ecolamp through Extralamp, a volunteer service – who joined the CdC RAEE as small collection centres. This process was strongly supported by the Consortium to favour the diffusion of the so-called compulsory collection at a national level, which contributes to achieving the collection targets set by European and Italian legislation.

According to the data collected by Ecolamp, the biggest share of exhausted light sources still comes from the lighting industry professionals, who use the voluntary services provided by the Consortium. However, the data also reports a gradual turnaround: the level of the voluntary collection remained stable last year, around 1,200 tons, but with a 56% share compared to the total collection of the Consortium, against 59% in 2014. The professional installers that use Extralamp, that is the free home collection service for users with more than 150 kg of material for disposal, alone contributed to about 1/5 of the total of the collection in 2015, for a total of 438 tons of exhausted bulbs. The bulbs delivered at the 35 Ecolamp Collection Points, at no charge, amount to over 422 tons, an increase of 9% compared to the previous year. Finally, just under 350 tons come from 61 additional sites affiliated with the Ecolamp Consortium which are authorized to collect and store light sources.