Fluorescent Next Year or Phase-out Compact Process

Energy-saving lighting industry will shuffle again. In particular, companies that use fluorescent lamps as their main products will face "halogenated mercury" tests in the coming years.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released on the 21st the “China's Roadmap for Gradually Reducing the Hg Content of Fluorescent Lamps” (Draft for Soliciting Opinions), proposing that the mercury content of fluorescent lamps will be gradually reduced in three phases from June 1, 2013, ending on December 31, 2014. Completely eliminate liquid mercury production process.

Fluorescent lamps are widely used energy-efficient lighting sources. The light-emitting principle determines that the lamp must contain a small amount of mercury vapor. According to statistics, in 2011, the output of fluorescent lamps in China was about 7 billion, accounting for more than 80% of global production. China Lighting Association released a few days ago, industry data show that China is still the largest exporter of lighting. In 2011, the lighting industry's total sales of 55.6 billion US dollars, exports of 22.34 billion US dollars.

The State Council's "12th Five-Year Plan for Energy Saving and Emission Reduction" and the "12th Five-Year Plan" for "Comprehensive Prevention and Control of Heavy Metal Pollution" suggest that China will implement the "Green Lighting Project" and "the prevention and control of heavy metals such as mercury pollution as an important goal." In addition, the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan for Promoting Industrial Cleaner Production" also puts forward that during the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" period, the mercury pollution reduction project will be implemented with the focus on the use of fluorescent lamps with low mercury and solid mercury production technologies in production.

At present, advanced economies such as Europe and the United States have already proposed to reduce the mercury content of fluorescent lamps. The negotiation of the international convention on mercury proposes that after the convention comes into force, countries will gradually ban the use of mercury. As a major producer and exporter of fluorescent lamps, the development of the fluorescent lamp industry will face both domestic and international pressures.

The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology proposed in the "Road Map" that by December 31, 2013, the liquid mercury production process for compact fluorescent lamps would be phased out; and on December 31, 2014, the liquid mercury production process would be completely eliminated. It is expected that by phasing out the liquid mercury process by 2014, mercury emissions from the production process will be reduced by about 20 tons compared with 2010. By 2015, the average mercury content of a single fluorescent lamp product will be reduced by about 80% compared to 2010, and more than half of the fluorescent lamps will contain less than 1 milligram of mercury. The total annual mercury use in the industry has dropped from about 60 tons in 2010 to about 10 tons.

The elimination of backward production capacity has formed a consensus in the lighting industry. A few days ago, the industry issued the "China's lighting industry to stop the use of liquid mercury self-discipline in the production of fluorescent lamps," Op, Sun, Osram, Philips and other companies in the China Lighting Association executive council agreed and agreed to submit to the General Assembly for deliberation.