First machine for recycling neon lights in Serbia

BiS IT Recycling Center in Pančevo presented the first machine for recycling neon lights in Serbia at ECOFAIR 2009. The crasher machine for recycling neon lights was purchased from British company "Balcan" whose representative Alistaer Rinfret put the crasher machine in operation and presented its basic characteristics to the present people. The guests were also addressed by the CEO of BiS IT Recycling Center, Nikola Egić, the Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Bojan Đurić, as well as by the Head of the Trade Department of the Embassy of Great Britain.

Continuing the good practice of the EU countries and wishing to meet the requests for compliance with EU norms, BiS IT Recycling Center decided to expand the palette of its services and make it possible for the citizens and the economy to act in accordance with the Law on Waste Management, article 51, which stipulates that waste fluorescent tubes that contain mercury must be separately collected for treatment and final disposal.

Electricity saving and longer life are primary reasons for mass use of this type of lamps. The main part of a fluorescent lamp is glass tube whose interior is filled with the mixture of inert gas and mercury. One compact fluorescent (energy-saving) bulb contains about 5 mg of mercury, while the quantity of mercury in flat fluorescent lamps ranges between 5 and 10 mg. That is why it is necessary that fluorescent bulbs be treated correctly since they can have harmful effect on environment.

The crasher-machine owned by company "Božić i sinovi" is equipped with special filters and reservoirs for separation of fractions of phosphorus powder and mercury from bulbs. Crasher-machine processes 1,000 lamps per hour, that is, it can process 10,000 pieces a day.

Transportation of whole lamps results in breaking of 3% of the shipment. Possible solution to this problem is treatment of whole lamps on the spot thanks to mobility of crasher-machine. In that way, the volume of the shipment is cut by 80%, and the lamps as such can be transported safely to the central recycling unit, which significantly reduces the price of transportation and other costs.

Glass waste is stored either in metal barrels of 210 liters that can hold about 130 kg of glass waste, or in special PVC bags that can hold between 50 and 60 kg. Packed in this way, glass waste is safely stored in a separate storage space until its final treatment.