H.T.R. makes business out of discarding bulbs

From the paint that coats new vehicles to the pesticide that keeps bugs away at picnics, hazardous materials are everywhere, even inside the bulbs that illuminate shops and offices.

And with every hazardous material, including those benign-looking fluorescent bulbs, comes the inconvenience of dealing with the rules governing its disposal. Attempting to comply with those volumes of regulations has often been confusing and frustrating until now.

Enter H.T.R. Inc., a company that specializes in safely recycling fluorescent bulbs.

"We take care of the pickup, transportation and recycling of fluorescent bulbs for our customers," said Ray Kohout, chief operations officer for H.T.R. "And once the process is completed, we provide them with a certificate of recycling that all but eliminates future liability."

Founded in mid-1998 in Golden City, H.T.R. opened its doors with only two employees. For a few months that was enough, then a new rule adopted by the Department of Natural Resources changed all that, bringing dramatic growth to the small company.

"Under the old rules, the bulbs were treated as hazardous waste," Kohout said. "The rule that went into effect on Jan. 31, 1999, reclassified them as universal waste. The Universal Waste Rule has had a dramatic impact on our company."

Kohout said he and other investors bought the company, currently owned by Atlanta-based Dufner Acquisitions, LLC, in December of last year. Since that time, he said, H.T.R. has added customers at the rate of five to 10 a day. Today the company employs a total of six workers at its main facility in Golden City, and has opened sales offices in St. Louis and several other states accounting for an additional five employees.

David Allison, an environmental specialist with DNR's Technical Assistance Program in Jefferson City, said the term universal waste was created when the rules concerning fluorescent bulbs were relaxed early last year.

"Hazardous waste is defined as any material that shows up on one of the Environmental Protection Agency's lists or is hazardous due to its characteristics," Allison said. "Those characteristics include flash point, reactivity and toxicity. Fluorescent bulbs were classified as hazardous because they were toxic."

Under Missouri rules, Allison said, the bulbs, which contain mercury, no longer had to be counted as part of the hazardous waste that businesses generate. That change, he added, meant that the bulbs could be stored separately from other hazardous waste, could be stored for longer periods of time, and no longer required manifesting when transported off site.

Kohout said customers generally come to H.T.R. in a fairly standard way. "They discover the problem and call DNR where they get the two-minute story on universal waste. Then, since we are the only certified Resource Recovery Facility in the state, they call us."

Once that call is made, Kohout said, H.T.R. will provide Department of Transportation approved containers for the bulbs and, when they're full, schedule a pickup. The price for all that service: about 30 cents for a 4-foot fluorescent bulb. Recycling the larger HID bulbs, Kohout said, runs about $1.25.

In addition to the ongoing type of work, which makes up some 60 percent of the H.T.R.'s business, Kohout said that companies will often schedule a retrofit of a warehouse or other large facility and just call H.T.R. to pick up the used bulbs.

"We also give customers a Missouri certificate which says that all parts of the lamp glass, aluminum, plastic and hazardous chemicals have been recycled according to current federal, state and local regulations. There are lots of other recyclers, but we're one of only seven that recycle all parts of the bulbs."

That certificate, Kohout said, is important when considering the cradle-to-grave-responsibility that accompanies hazardous materials.

Allison points out that the rule applies only to large (more than 11,000 pounds at any time) and small (less than 11,000 pounds at any time) quantity generators. Farmers, households and small businesses are exempt under the rule.

"Those businesses that generate de minimus quantities can dispose of the bulbs in a landfill," Allison said. "We generally interpret that to mean no more than two a month."

Allison said when fluorescent bulbs are broken, they must be treated as hazardous waste.

"If the bulb is broken sweep it up and, if you have other hazardous waste, store and dispose of it with that waste," Allison said.

Another option for businesses with small quantities of bulbs to recycle, Kohout said, would be to "contact H.T.R., obtain a container for the bulbs and call for a pick up when it's nearly full."

Kohout said the increase in recycling since last year's rule change has enabled H.T.R. to open sales offices in Atlanta and Dallas. And that the company anticipated opening recycling facilities in both of those cities in the next 18 months.

"That's just an estimate, right now" Kohout said. "With all the new business we've been busy, scrambling to keep up. It's an estimate, but it's also our goal at this point."