This refers to the report “140 countries agree on treaty to limit mercury use,” (Jan.20). As mentioned, disposal is a more serious problem but no effective method is mentioned.
Increasing use of compact fluorescent lights will lead to enormous mercury waste as it will now be disposed of in landfills. There is no safe handling system in use. A safe and secure solution is for manufacturers to collect used CFL-bulbs, process and recover the mercury. But there is no system or incentive for collection. The supply chain could be used to collect used bulbs. The sales outlet may give a discount on the new purchase against the returned fused bulb. This method is in use in the soft-drink and LPG cylinder industries. Why not make it mandatory for CFL bulbs as well and save millions of children from dreadful consequences? It is doable.
R. Vasudevan,
Koppa
