Take Back the Light is Canada’s leading light recycling program for businesses and institutions, and provides a simple low-cost opportunity to have fluorescent lamps and light fixtures recycled responsibly.
The program works with both buyers and sellers of fluorescent lamps of any kind to verify, validate, recover and properly recycle lights to the highest environmental standards. Ninety-eight per cent of each light collected is diverted from disposal with component parts reused wherever possible. Since 2008, Take Back the Light has recycled more than 30 million lamps, recovering over:
- 7,268,000 kg of glass
- 108.3 kg of mercury
- 103,956 kg of phosphor
- 106,727 kg of metal
Take Back the Light protects human health and the environment, because the improper disposal of fluorescent lamps results in hundreds of kilograms of mercury leaking into the environment contaminating water bodies to the point that fish may not be safe for consumption. It is a simple and flexible program allowing distributors to provide value-added services to their customers by offering to take back all spend lamps, and increases the visibility of participants who join. In partnership with the approved processing facilities Aevitas and Veolia, Take Back the Light is a demonstration of environmental leadership in the Industrial, Institutional and Commercial sector, which many recycling programs fail to capture.