The Ministry of Finance and the National Development and Reform Commission recently announced that China will promote energy-saving lamps nationwide this year. Previously, energy-saving lamps sold for 10 yuan per unit in the market will now be available to ordinary people for only 1 yuan with their ID cards.

This livelihood project has shown many consumers the dawn of energy conservation: promoting energy-saving lamps through financial subsidies not only provides affordable prices for the people, but also attracts them to purchase; On the other hand, it also introduces enterprises with certain scale and strength to the public, improving their awareness of energy-saving lamps and indirectly eliminating small manufacturers and purifying the market. However, some consumers have expressed their concerns.

Does energy saving save money

Some consumers have expressed that based on past experience, when the government subsidizes the purchase of energy-saving lamps, in addition to presenting their ID card, they also need to fill in their name, address, and phone number. Due to limited quantity, some places also require a purchase limit of no more than a certain number per ID card. Then, the limited number of energy-saving lamps for the whole market is undoubtedly more monks than porridge, which means that residents still need to buy from the market.

According to data, lighting electricity accounts for over 12% of the total electricity consumption in China. If all existing ordinary incandescent lamps are replaced with energy-saving lamps, China can save 60 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually, which is close to the annual power generation of the Three Gorges Project.

This data indicates that there is still a lot of room for development in the use of energy-saving lamps in China. However, the current energy-saving lamp market generally has a situation of uneven product quality, which affects consumers' purchasing enthusiasm.

Mr. Mao is the person in charge of a hair salon. During the store renovation, he purchased over 40 energy-saving lamps from the supermarket. Several months have passed, and one energy-saving lamp after another has broken down. I have changed several batches over the years, and upon closer calculation, not only did I not save money, but I also spent a lot of money on buying lamps.

Mr. Ye from Wenzhou reported to the media that he had previously used energy-saving lamps from other brands, which saved electricity. However, due to the short lifespan of the lamps, it was not cost-effective from an economic perspective. During a supermarket shopping trip, he was interested in an electronic energy-saving lamp because the front of the product packaging prominently displayed the words "8-year lifespan". Although its price is 33 yuan, Mr. Ye thinks it should have more advantages than similar products. When Mr. Ye returned home, he found that the front of the outer packaging was prominently marked with a lifespan of 8 years in large font, while the inside of the packaging was written in inconspicuous small font: "Calculated based on 2.7 hours of daily use, the lifespan can reach 8 years.

It should be said that after years of promotion and advertising, energy-saving lamps have gained widespread recognition from consumers. However, although some energy-saving lamps are cheap, their quality is difficult to guarantee and they are prone to damage, leading some residents who have used low-quality energy-saving lamps to believe that energy-saving lamps do not save money. Some consumers have reported that on one hand, the country is vigorously promoting energy-saving lamps into households, and on the other hand, the qualification rate of energy-saving lamps is relatively low, especially in the rural market.

In March of this year, the Shenyang Consumers' Association conducted a comparative experiment on some energy-saving lamp products distributed in Shenyang. The 20 energy-saving lamp samples participating in the comparative experiment were randomly purchased by staff from the Consumer Association as ordinary consumers from some supermarkets and professional lighting markets in the local area. The production areas involved 20 enterprises in Guangdong, Shanghai, Zhejiang and other places. After inspection, the qualification rate of energy-saving lamps is only 50%. Not long ago, Guangdong Province conducted spot checks on energy-saving lamps, and only over 10% of them were qualified; The latest quality inspection report on energy-saving lamps released by Shanxi Province shows that the qualification rate of energy-saving lamps on the market in the province has just exceeded half.

Recycling is still blank

If the energy-saving lamp is damaged, the mercury inside will flow out, and improper handling can have a huge impact on the environment. Immersing 1 milligram of mercury underground can cause pollution of approximately 360 tons of water. If not recycled and processed in a timely manner, with an average mercury content of 0.5 milligrams per energy-saving lamp tube, it will cause serious mercury pollution to approximately 180 tons of water. According to statistics, the recycling rate of energy-saving lamps in China is less than 1%.

Since 2008, China has been promoting high-efficiency energy-saving lamps through financial subsidies. So far, 62 million energy-saving lamps have been put into the market at low prices. So, what will happen to these 62 million energy-saving lamps after they are scrapped? Moreover, due to the poor quality of some energy-saving lamps in the market, many residents are also worried about the waste energy-saving lamps accumulated at home.

Ms. Mo said that since using energy-saving lamps, nearly 20 lamps have been replaced at home. Abandoned energy-saving lamps are piled up in the storage room, and she is worried about mercury pollution inside the lamps. In the end, she had to throw them into the community's waste battery recycling bin.

The sales staff of Beijing's Surprisingly Home shopping mall said that few people are willing to recycle discarded energy-saving lamps now. Due to the low market price of mercury, high recycling costs, and the difficulty in transporting light bulbs, some waste collection stations are also unwilling to purchase discarded energy-saving lamps.

According to the new hazardous waste catalog issued by the state, the waste energy-saving lamps generated by residents' use are not considered hazardous waste, and therefore there are no corresponding recycling channels. Many consumers are calling for relevant departments to establish waste energy-saving lamp recycling points as soon as possible.