Napa takes advantage Fluorescent LigHting Recycling PROgram S E P T E M B E R / O C TO B E R 2 0 1 3 53 On Earth Day in 2011, the City of Napa established the Lighting Efficiency and Safe Stewardship (LESS) program. The LESS program evolved as a partnership between the City of Napa and a group from Leadership Napa Valley, and was established because fluorescent lights are toxic and illegal to throw away in the trash. Yet prior to the LESS program, there were very limited local opportunities for residents to dispose of them in a legal and environmentally responsible way. LESS was set up and partially funded by city solid waste/ recycling rate payers and a one-time federal energy efficiency grant, with four local retailers acting as collection sites. The program has now grown to five retail partner locations in the Napa city limits: • Central Valley Builders Supply 1709 Soscol Avenue • Clark’s Ace Hardware 325 Lincoln Avenue • Napa Electric 2240 Brown Street • Orchard Supply Hardware 3980 Bel Aire Plaza • Zeller’s Ace Hardware 819 Randolph Street Since the program began, over 10,500 compact fluorescent lights (CFLs) and 8,500 fluorescent tubes have been collected, shipped and recycled from the Napa LESS program retail partners, all of which participate on a voluntary basis. More than six tons of mercury-containing lamps and tubes have been recycled and kept away from improper landfill disposal so far through the LESS program. This tremendous participation in the LESS program by the Napa community contributes positively to our community, health and overall environment. There are definite benefits to using fluorescent lamps over the previously common incandescent lighting. Fluorescents can be up to four times more efficient and they last up to ten times as long. However, fluorescent lighting contains mercury, which is harmful to people and the environment if not dealt with properly at the end of the product’s life. If disposed of improperly, this mercury can unknowingly be released into the air, water and soil, posing a risk to public health and the environment. For example, as little as one teaspoon of mercury can contaminate a twenty-acre lake. While state laws recognize the danger of improperly throwing these items away, an adequate statewide system has not been developed to allow consumers to conveniently return the products after use. This policy approach has essentially resulted in a state “ban without a plan.” This type of policy approach can frustrate the public trying to comply with such a ban but having no convenient place to recycle the banned items. This need is what prompted implementation of Napa’s LESS program. Yet while the program continues to produce positive results, local leaders continue to support a shift to a full Extended Producer Responsibility or EPR approach, where the cost of recycling is shifted to product manufacturers and, ultimately, they pass those costs on to the consumers. In this approach, the costs are no longer hidden and paid by the general public through increased taxes or utility rates, and the opportunities and benefits of recycling expand beyond our local program. In the meantime, while we wait for broader statewide or industry recycling solutions, Napa’s LESS program continues, and local residents are encouraged to take full advantage of the program and visit the voluntary retail collection partners. The program’s success so far has once again shown the Napa community will continue to embrace opportunities to recycle and help protect health and our environment. Contact: cshoop@cityofnapa.org (707) 257-9902 More than six tons of local fluorescent lighting have been recycled to date in Napa.
NVLife_SeptOct_2013
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