My electricity supplier has sent me four energy-saving light bulbs. I suppose I should be grateful, but I am not. I hate these things. They are big and ugly. They give us about as much light as a flickering candle. Medical experts reckon that they could give me a dose of radioactive radiation. And thanks to a conspiracy in favour of these inadequate household objects, it is becoming harder and harder to buy good old fashioned tungsten filament light bulbs. OK, so these have to be replaced from time to time but at least they do what a light bulb is supposed to do – allow me to see in the dark.
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I have been thinking a lot about light bulbs lately. These ‘energy saving light bulbs’ that are being forced upon us, are in fact the same fluorescent tubes that are used to light up the factory floor or the school dining room. But to adapt them for the home, the tube is made smaller and is bent and squashed into something resembling the traditional filament bulb.
The mercury in one fluorescent light bulb pollutes 30,000 litres of water
Now we are being badgered into using them. But if we would only wait for a few more years, we’d be able to switch to a revolutionary form of lighting. One that is not only highly efficient in its use of power and generation of light, but also highly robust. This is ‘solid state lighting’, where the light is generated by a type of semi-conductor called a ‘light emitting diode’ (LED).
While we’re waiting for this technology to be translated into products suitable for the home, we are torn between straining our eyes under energy-saving bulbs or else straining our temper in search of the traditional type. Inevitably, we will end up using more fluorescent bulbs, and that might be very well except for one, tiny thing. A fluorescent tube is made from 94% glass, 4% ferrous metals and 2% phosphor powder. Within this phosphor powder is a drop of mercury.
I am sure you know the expression ‘mad as a hatter’. Back when they didn’t know any better, hat makers used to soften their felt by dipping it into mercuric nitrate. This constant exposure to mercury vapour caused twitching and dementia. Eventually the penny dropped, the danger of mercury was recognised and now it is officially treated as a ‘hazardous material’. That means when the time comes to dispose of a fluorescent light bulb, it cannot just be dumped in any old landfill.
Mercury is highly dangerous. One fluorescent light bulb contains enough mercury to pollute 30,000 litres of water beyond the level for safe drinking. So, now the full weight of European legislation is landing upon it. The Landfill Directive, the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive have all emerged from our ever-productive public servants. The upshot is that it is now virtually impossible to send fluorescent light bulbs to landfill.
As ever, regulation creates business opportunities.
This profitable company can recycle 40 million lamps a year
Fluorescent tubes regulation has created a whole new industry, led by the AIM-quoted Mercury Recycling (ticker: MRG). Having built a new state-of-the-art facility at Manchester’s Trafford business park, this company can recycle 40 million lamps each year, separating the glass, metal and mercury and returning it to manufacturers.
Last week, Mercury Recycling reported a 21% profit increase for 2008, and since a large number of fluorescent lamps are still not being recycled, it clearly expects further growth. In addition to this, it is looking into the possibility of recycling the flat panel displays of televisions and PCs which also contain mercury. So in spite of warning that it is ‘expecting price pressures and increased competition’. I’d say the outlook for Mercury Recycling should be pretty bright.
Brighter in fact than those wretched energy-saving bulbs...
Best wishes,
Tom Bulford
For The Penny Sleuth
P.S. In the last edition of my newsletter Red Hot Penny Shares, I described the future of lighting and the emergence of Solid State Lighting in detail. I also told readers of a company that is ideally placed to benefit. It is not too late to receive this issue, you can find out how at the bottom of this exclusive investment report on recovery shares: just click here...
P.P.S. If you want to follow the insights of a small company investor, and uncover the hidden gems of the stock market, find out more about The Penny Sleuth by clicking here.
