By Keely Grasser, City Hall Bureau
Bay Ward Coun. Alex Cullen says the city was dim-witted when it handed out to Ottawa households more than 50,000 energy-efficient light bulbs containing mercury.
Now he’s asking the city to designate them as hazardous material.
The light bulbs, touted as environmentally friendly and energy efficient, were distributed for free to households in Ottawa South this fall by the non-profit Project Porchlight group.
The give-away was a combined effort of groups including the city and Hydro Ottawa.
Cullen says he noticed something fishy when he received one of the bulbs in a loot bag given out by Hydro Ottawa at a meeting.
“I discovered that there was a warning label that these energy efficient light bulbs contained mercury,” he said.
“Mercury is a health hazard,” he says. It’s known to be toxic and adversely affect the human nervous system.
Project Porchlight acknowledges the bulbs contain mercury. They say each bulb has about 5 mg of the element, while a watch battery contains about 50 mg and a tooth filling has about 500 mg. They say the bulbs are safe and that no mercury is emitted by using the bulbs.
Cullen is worried that when the bulbs burn out, people will toss them out with their regular trash. The mercury “could end up in the water table,” he says.
“Right now, it’s permissible to put them out in the regular garbage,” he explains. “I have a problem with this.”
The Project Porchlight website says citizens should check with their local waste programs to see whether there are recycling programs in place that will take the bulbs. If not, they say it’s fine to throw them in the garbage.
The city encourages citizens to recycle through a hazardous waste recycling program called Take It Back. Citizens can find information about where to return items, including energy efficient lightbulbs.
The website lists the Pinecrest Ikea store as a depot for bulbs.
However, Ikea spokesperson Errin Stone says there’s some confusion, since the store only takes back bulbs purchased there, not the bulbs handed out through Project Porchlight. They are no-name, generic bulbs, according to the city.
Cullen says bulbs can also be returned to Marchand Electric Co. on Algoma Street.
Cullen says the city didn’t plan ahead. “I don’t think they looked into it at all,” he says. “Energy efficient lightbulbs are a good idea, but I think they neglected to think about what would happen when the bulbs burned out.”
He’ll bring his concerns to the Planning and Environment Committee on April 11.