Substance flow analysis of mercury in fluorescent lamps in the Philippines

As human consumption increase, wastes coming from used up product also continue to accumulate. Electronic wastes, or e-wastes, have become one of the serious threats to our environment since the components in electronic devices would not decompose when disposed. Typically, these components are harmful, especially to animal and human life. One of the e-wastes that are prominent in household is the fluorescent light bulb. These bulbs contain mercury, which is a toxic element. In the Philippines, there is no such directive that addresses the issue of disposal of e-wastes and it is only recent that bulb recycling had been implemented. This research proposed a mathematical model of the mercury in fluorescent light bulbs in the Philippines for the years 2001 to 2020. The fluorescent light bulbs were separated into tubular fluorescent light bulbs and compact fluorescent light bulbs. The two types of bulb are independent of each other. The amount of mercury for each bulb type used in the model was the average of each type, which were 30 mg for the tubular type and 12 mg for the compact type. The amount of inflow of the fluorescent light bulbs was expressed as a function of GDP and population which was based from the data from 2001 to 2005. Future inflows were then simulated as the trend of GDP and population was used in the equation. The trends are independent of each other, and were based on the previous data. The amount of outflow of the fluorescent light bulbs was based on the inflow and the time the bulbs will be busted. The outflow of the fluorescent light bulbs was exponential distributed as a function of the life of the bulbs. The disposal of the fluorescent light bulbs was distributed to three different sectors: institutional, establishment and household. The percentage of the distribution were based on a related study in the Philippines. The study showed that the Philippines is projected to have environmental mercury emissions of 22.2 tons of mercury spanning from 2001 to 2020. If the lifespan of bulbs from 2010 onwards were doubled, it would be reduced to 15.2%. If the mercury from the light bulbs from 2010 onwards were halved, the amount of mercury would be reduced to 33.5%. The percent reduction of mercury if the annual recovery of the bulbs became 20% from 2010 onwards will be 14.5%. Overall, the best solution for decreasing the mercury emission from disposal was to reduce the amount of mercury. This is achieved by restricting the bulbs sold in the Philippines based on the mercury content, and with further technological advancements