Researchers at the University of Sao Paulo's Incubator of Technological Enterprise are developing a technology that promises to recover nearly 98 percent of the contaminating materials from used fluorescent lightbulbs. Through a system of high vacuum and high temperatures, the scientists have been able to recover the mercury, copper, tungsten, aluminum and glass from the tubular bulbs.

The technique recovers the raw materials that can serve “in manufacturing glass tile floors, metal plates, and an infinity of other products,” Gilvan Xavier Araújo, head of the research effort, explained to Tierramérica.

Brazil, with its population of about 185 million, consumes an average of 100 million fluorescent lightbulbs per year, of which 94 percent are thrown away without any type of treatment. One bulb can contain 5 to 30 milligrams of mercury, a heavy metal that is dangerous to human health and the environment.