by Shane Henson — September 4, 2013—Paris-based Veolia Environmental Services, reportedly one of the largest waste services companies in the world, has expanded its waste-cutting footprint with the opening of a new electronics recycling facility in West Bridgewater, south of Boston, Massachusetts.
According to company officials, the facility offers recycling of fluorescent lamps, ballast, batteries, computer electronics and mercury-bearing waste. The facility, which replaces one in Stoughton where Veolia has been operating since 2000, was built to serve industrial, commercial and government organizations across West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, DC, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and the New England States. In addition, Veolia has agreed to provide its recycling services to the residents of the Town of West Bridgewater, at no charge, through the town’s transfer facility.
The ability to process and reclaim material instead of sending it to a landfill is a primary goal of the facility, the company says. Veolia installed new processing equipment that allows for more than 99 percent of a fluorescent lamp, by weight, to be recycled. The company not only separates a fluorescent lamp into its core components of glass, aluminum and mercury-bearing phosphor power, but also reclaims the mercury and works with partners to recover rare earth elements from the phosphor powder.
Veolia currently processes approximately 15.5 million pounds of lighting and electronic waste annually, and more than 155 pounds of elemental mercury is reclaimed from recycling fluorescent lamps. New state-of-the-art recycling equipment will provide for an increased capacity for fluorescent lamps by 150 percent, the company says.
