UW-03
Ballast Recycling
Non-PCB ballasts collected so the copper and steel are recovered and reused.
Why old ballasts are still sitting in your building
Ballasts rarely get their own project. They come out during a lighting retrofit, get set on a shelf or a pallet next to the spent lamps, and stay there because nobody is sure who takes them. In a Houston warehouse or school maintenance shop that pile can sit for years.
A stored ballast is a liability that belongs to the generator, which is the business or agency that took it out of service. Getting those units out of the building and into a recycling stream is how you reduce the generator's liability, and it is the reason this service exists alongside our lamp collection.
The work is not complicated, but it does need a handler that is set up to take them. U-Waste Recycling Solutions is permitted through TCEQ as a Large Quantity Handler of Universal Waste, and ballasts are part of the universal waste we collect, store and transfer.
Technical plate of a non-PCB ballast case with leads, core and winding, showing the copper and steel recovered for reuse
How the copper and steel come back out
A ballast is mostly metal. Inside the case there is a steel core and copper winding, and that is the value in the unit. We collect the metal components, copper and steel, from non-PCB ballasts for recovery and reuse, so the material goes back into manufacturing instead of into a landfill.
Our own vehicles pick up from your location, in most cases within 48 hours of the request, or you can drop off at 14730 Hempstead Road. The units are packaged for shipment and move on to permitted, State approved off-site recyclers.
To prepare a load, stack ballasts on a pallet or in a sturdy box, keep them upright and dry, and do not mix them with broken glass or loose lamps. A clean, labeled pallet is faster to receive and easier for everyone to account for.
Pairing ballasts with lamps, and the call to make first
Most of our ballast customers are the same people sending us tubes, so we suggest putting both on one pickup. A retrofit crew pulls the lamp and the ballast from the same fixture, and one stop from our driver clears both. Add batteries from your emergency lighting and exit signs and the closet is empty.
One firm boundary: only non-PCB ballasts are on this program. If a ballast carries a label that says non-PCB, it is a candidate for pickup. If a ballast has no label, or the label is worn off, do not guess and do not add it to the pallet. Call 713-360-7310 before including it, and we will tell you how to handle it.
We do not publish rates because the cost depends on what you have and where it is. Ask for a quote when you call, and we will give it to you before we send a truck.
Non-PCB ballasts only. U-Waste Recycling Solutions is permitted through TCEQ as a Large Quantity Handler of Universal Waste in Houston. Call 713-360-7310 before including an unlabeled unit.