Recycling of LED has become a new issue

LED is a light emitting diode. Used for the first time in 1968. LED is a semiconductor that emits light through electricity. At present, LED lighting has been widely used in various lighting, and gradually replace the traditional incandescent bulb. Although the LED lamp and the traditional lamps and lanterns are much more than the environmental protection, but the LED recycling use is very important.

Performance and application of LED

LED to replace the traditional incandescent bulbs for several reasons.

First, the life of LED usually than traditional incandescent bulb, incandescent lamp life expectancy is 1200 hours, while the average life of LED lamp is as long as 50 thousand hours.

Second, LED bulbs consume less power, and the brightness is stronger. This makes LED a cost-effective and environmentally friendly technology. In addition, LED bulbs are not like CFL bulbs containing mercury (mercury is harmful to the environment). LED lamp is also very durable, can withstand more wear than traditional light bulb. LED is not affected by climate lighting, moisture or low temperature will not affect the operation of LED lighting. LED bulbs emit only 10% of the carbon dioxide emissions from conventional bulbs.

LED applications are more and more widely used, including:

Brake lights, television screens, laboratory equipment, watches, mobile phone, computer, household lighting, retail store lighting, traffic signs and car. These are part of the LED application, LED continued to replace the tungsten filament lamp, there will be more LED lamps used in daily life.

LED recovery

In the product life cycle, LED has been very environmentally friendly, but if it can be recycled, it will be more environmentally friendly. More than 95% of LED can be recycled, waste recycling companies will use the low price to buy the old LED lighting products.

When LED does not contain any harmful substances, it is classified as RoHS. RoHS passed in January 2006 in the UK, limiting the use of hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment. This restriction prevents the sale of products containing mercury, lead, cadmium, polybrominated biphenyls, polybrominated diphenyl ethers and six - valent chromium (). As a result of this standard, LED can be treated and recovered as a general bulb.

The general process of recycling is to break and separate the LED bulb, using a bar screen to form a component. In this step, the glass passes through a magnetic field that can move any non-ferrous material. In order to remove LED aluminum and lead, the non ferrous metal separator is blasted in the broken glass, which guides the metal to a single metal tank. The rest of the glass, like aluminum, can be made into other products. Glass will not be degraded by recycling, so it can be recycled.

In the UK, LED lighting is managed by the WEEE standard to determine when LED products should be eliminated. WEEE is the abbreviation of waste electrical and electronic equipment, in order to encourage the recycling of electronic and electrical equipment recycling standards. Recently, the EPA has changed the WEEE regulations, all LED companies must comply with, such as Recolight. Under the new regulations, it is necessary to check whether the lighting producer has to deal with the cost of recycling according to WEEE9.2.

The environmental benefits of recycling LED

Although the LED itself is environmentally friendly, but if the right recovery, the impact on the environment will be smaller. A recent study by the University of California in the United States shows that most of the LED lamps contain a high proportion of nickel, and color LED lamps contain large amounts of lead. In addition, arsenic content exceeded. These substances are not only harmful to the environment, but also affect human health. Although LED than traditional lamp to environmental protection, but did not like the white flag out of lighting that is lost, the impact of LED may be long. LED also contains a large amount of aluminum, which may have a greater impact than the average light bulb may be due to the energy and resources used in manufacturing. In view of the increasing demand for LED lamps in recent years, the use of recycled LED is more important than the extension of LED's life, making it possible to continue using LED in the future.