Veolia Environmental Services North America, based in Chicago, has announced that its Port Washington, Wis., facility has achieved approved processor status for the Ontario Ministry of the Environment’s Take Back the Light program. The approval will allow the company’s Wisconsin facility to recycle fluorescent and other mercury-bearing lamps that are subject to the program’s operational and environmental requirements.

The program, launched in June 2008, is Canada’s first comprehensive fluorescent lamp recycling program. The program’s goal is to recycle fluorescent lamps, while facilitating proper collection and management of lamps to recover potentially hazardous mercury and other lamp materials. While the recovery of mercury is the primary objective of the program, glass, metals and phosphor are also reclaimed and recycled.

“Proper handling of fluorescent and other mercury-bearing lamps is extremely important to Veolia and our customers,” says John McShane, Veolia’s electronics recycling division GM. “Being an approved processor for Take Back the Light provides the public and our customers the assurance they need to know that their spent lamps will be handled properly.”