For More Information Contact:
John Mitchell, 341-8539 or 954-7528 (cell)
Eugene Water & Electric Board

July 10, 2008

Jerry’s Home Improvement Center recognized for exemplary recycling efforts

As part of a regional awards program to honor leadership by a Northwest business or business association to reduce use of and exposures to hazardous materials, the North American Hazardous Materials Managers Association (NAHMMA) has recognized Jerry's Home Improvement Center. The award was presented June 11 at the annual NAHMMA Northwest Regional Chapter conference.

Jerry’s Home Improvement Center, with two locations locally in Eugene and Springfield, was nominated by Lane County Public Works, Waste Management Division. Jerry’s has been a participant in the local residential retail fluorescent lamp collection program for nearly five years.

“Since that time, Jerry's Home Improvement Center has established itself as the cornerstone of the program,” says Chad Ficek, Special Waste Analyst at Lane County Public Works, noting that the local business accounts for about 62 percent of all the linear and compact fluorescent lamps collected. “That amounts to over 32 miles of linear fluorescent lamps, along with 6,200 compact fluorescents lamps (CFLs), that have been recycled instead of ending up in a landfill.”

Jerry's has also made the commitment to package and deliver the lamps that they collect to Lane County's Household Hazardous Waste facility in Glenwood at no charge for the cost of time and labor, says Ficek.

Fluorescent lamps should be disposed of properly with other household hazardous waste products such as pesticides, paint, batteries and thermostats. Since 2004, Lane County Waste Management, the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and the local electric utilities in the Eugene-Springfield community have teamed up to develop a convenient residential recycling program for spent CFLs and linear fluorescent tubes.

Why is it important to recycle? CFL’s have recently become popular with customers as an inexpensive and long-lasting source of light. In the past few years, utilities throughout the Northwest have distributed free bulbs and rebate coupons for CFL’s. While fluorescent lamps contain a trace amount of mercury – it’s what makes them so efficient – the amount of mercury is so small that it does not pose a health risk to you or your family.

“Although there’s only a trace amount of mercury in CFL’s, the concern is focused on the proper disposal of the bulbs,” says Program Manager Bob Lorenzen. “The goal is to keep large accumulations of CFL’s out of the landfill.”

NAHMMA, a professional organization established in November of 1993, is dedicated to pollution prevention and reducing the hazardous constituents entering municipal waste streams from households, small businesses and other entities that may be exempt from local, regional or national regulations.

For more information, contact Chad Ficek at 682-3828 or Bob Lorenzen at 484-1125, extension 3052.