Focus on nature conservation and quality of life.

Avant is deeply concerned with the preservation of the environment and quality of life. So much so that it promotes three different kinds of actions:

1. Avant has a social responsibility program that involves the recycling its products, and internal actions to raise the awareness regarding waste of materials.
2. It has a program of recycling and decontamination of lamps collected from the market due to defects or end of life.
3. It runs promotional campaigns with its customers.

1 - Social Responsibility

Social responsibility is the fulfillment of duties and obligations of individuals and businesses to society in general. From the corporate point of view, in addition to recycling its lamps to avoid environmental contamination, Avant takes actions with the internal public focused on its employees' activities.

One of these actions is the training of employees to raise their awareness of how to avoid waste in daily activities. Currently there is a program of conscious use of printing paper, preventing waste and encouraging the continued use of online communications.

2 – Decontamination of lamps

Avant has engaged the company Brasil Recicle to decontaminate the lamps returned by retailers and consumers.

See the entire process conducted by Brasil Recicle.

Collection and transport

Collection and transportation of lamps are carried out by Brasil Recicle, which has personnel trained for the operation and proper trucks for the transport of hazardous material. The trucks are equipped with a system of filters to capture the mercury vapor from any lamps that break during transport.

Decontamination of fluorescent lamps

Fluorescent lamps are first sorted by length and diameter and then are sent to the decontamination process itself.

The decontamination process takes place in the decontamination machine that is confined and under negative pressure to avoid leakage of mercury vapor. The machine cuts and cleans the lamps through an automated process.

During the cutting process, mercury vapor is captured in activated charcoal filters through forced exhaustion. The air with the phosphate powder particles exhausted during cleaning of lamps goes through filters where the particles are retained, and then the air goes on through the activated charcoal filters, being released clean to the atmosphere. The decontaminated glass tube is collected at the end of the production line.

Decontamination of discharge lamps

After high-intensity discharge lamps (HID) are classified according to their size, their terminals are cut off. The internal bulb containing mercury and the support systems that keep the inner bulb in position inside the lamp are removed along with the terminal.

The phosphor powder is removed by high air pressure followed by exhaustion. The powder is removed from the current through filters. The inner part of the bulbs (supports, inner bulb and terminals) is cut off.

What we do with the waste or by-products

The by-products resulting from the decontamination process may have the following destinations:

3 – Environmental promotional campaigns

Many of Avant's point of sale promotions are intended to publicize the best aspects of environmental preservation.

See some of the materials: