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Lamp Recycling @ Westburne

You already know that:

• Your used lamps should not be tossed in the garbage
  regardless of whether it's a fluorescent, CFL, MH, HPS,
  or other type.
• Your jobsites are becoming more environmentally friendly.
• Some jobsites are already mandating the proper recycling
  of all removed lamps.

BUT... Do you know:

• What to do with your used lamps?
• Where to recycle them?
• What costs are involved?
• What official recognized recycling programs are available?

As of July, 2008 Westburne Ruddy Electric has become the first recognized supplier/seller to join the Take Back the Light (TBTL) program. TBTL is a program of The Recycling Council of Ontario, and Canada's first and only comprehensive fluorescent lamp recycling program for the industrial, commercial and institutional (ICI) sector.

Why recycle your used lamps?

Sometimes it's required by the job, sometimes it's recognized as the right thing to do, and other times it's just because it's so easy! Westburne has teamed up with the Recycling Council of Ontario to help make lamp recycling as easy as throwing them away (or easier!)
Simply bring in your used lamps to any of Westburne's over 50 Ontario locations and drop them in our Take Back The Light bin located in the showroom. The recycling fee will be added to your purchase order, and you're done. It's that simple - no forms, no shipping, no extra stops in your day.
Westburne has used our size to negotiate the best volume discounts on recycling fees and we're passing the savings on to you, our customer!
Help do your part to keep mercury contaminated waste out of our landfills.

Westburne's Results

Thank you to all of our customers for making the launch of this program a success! 2008 was a great year for lamp recycling, and 2009 is proving to be even better.
Here are our 2008 results:

• 30,579 lamps were safely recycled helping to divert the following from our landfills
• 10,154.6 kg of glass
• 113.61 kg of metals
• 122.03 kg of phosphor
• 3.247 kg of mercury

More Information

View Westburne's official Take Back the Light Certificate
Learn More About Westburne's Lamp Recycling Program
Take Back the Light - Official Website
Press Release: Take Back the Light Launches in Ontario

Still have a question? Want to recycle your lamps?

Contact your local branch
or eMail us

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Green Invoicing

Westburne is constantly working to improve the service our customers receive. Our goal is to consistently provide prompt, accurate service while making our everyday business practices more environmentally friendly.
Many Westburne customers now receive their invoices directly by eMail. Moving to eMail invoices and statements will helps us offer our customers the high quality of service expected from Westburne Ruddy Electric, and at the same time assist in eliminating mountains of wasted paper and envelopes. As well as helping the environment, our customers can also help their business by receiving these important documents sooner. Since standard postal service can take 2 - 4 days, this could save valuable time when processing documents.
According to Canada Post, if one person switched a single monthly bill from paper to electronic delivery they could eliminate almost 1lb of paper waste a year. Sound small? If every Canadian did this, we could save over 95,000 trees! How's that for a breath of fresh air?
Want to make the switch? Click here to complete our request form
Please note we can accept up to 2 eMail addresses per account.
What about eMail problems? Don't worry. If there's ever a problem with the eMail service a paper invoice will be generated and mailed out right away.

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Marketing Materials

With over 50 branches across Ontario and thousands of customers, Westburne can create a lot of paper-based materials such as posters, flyers, and brochures every year.
In order to be more environmentally responsible Westburne Ontario makes an effort to use only FSC Certified paper for all of our flyers, posters, and brochures that are produced through our head office Marketing Group. This paper is made from recycled materials and always certified to be from well-managed forests, controlled sources, and recycled wood or fibre.
You will notice the FSC symbol appear on our Circuit Flyer and Store Locator Maps, just to name a couple. Although other flyers, posters, letters, and brochures produced through our head office Marketing Group do not show this symbol due to usage guidelines, they are still utilizing paper stock that is recognized as FSC Certified.
For more information on FSC and our efforts to make our marketing materials Green(er) check out:
http://www.fsccanada.org/whyfsc.htm

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Shopping bags

In this age of Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle a number of business are no longer offering plastic shopping bags to their customers. Westburne will still be providing shopping bags for your purchases, but we are making changes to minimize our effect on the environment. Besides being a convenience, shopping bags are sometimes needed for safety when transporting items with sharp edges or corners, or to ensure that small parts do not go missing.
A Green(er) alternative? You will start noticing a new “epi” symbol on the bottom-right corner of our shopping bags. Westburne has made the change to using bags with totally degradable plastic additives. This is a small change, but it helps to ensure we leave less of a footprint on our environment in the years ahead.
Are these the bags I use in my kitchen Green Bin? Not exactly. The bags used at home in your Green Bin are made to be fully compostable and break down very quickly. These are not strong enough for the purpose of a shopping bag. The new Westburne bags will undergo an oxo-biodegradation process. They look, feel, and have the same strength as before. An additive is mixed in with the conventional plastic during manufacturing and allows these bags to biodegrade within 20 to 36 months when disposed of in an appropriate environment. Conventional plastic materials can remain in the environment for decades, or even centuries.