Sustainability of LEDs

This came up in a project done during the earlier days of LED adoption.  Good piece here that makes  the case.  Another landfill scenario?

LED Technology Isn't All That Sustainable
Declan Barrett, SCB Contributor in SupplychainBrain

It’s now accepted among the business community that light-emitting diode (LED) technology is here to stay. It generates significant energy and cost savings, and represents a quick way for companies to positively impact their energy consumption and move toward a more sustainable future.

On the face of it, forming a business case for LED technology can seem very straightforward, as companies are usually replacing conventional, high-wattage lighting — requiring bulbs to be replaced regularly — with low-wattage, maintenance-free LED fittings.

Return-on-investment calculations for LED technology are frequently referred to among industry players as “no-brainers,” because companies generally recover the capital cost of making the transition in less than three years.

However, there are three big catches. Companies have to remember that this isn’t a one-shot deal, and finance departments are currently finding this out the hard way.

Maintenance

The first catch is maintenance, or lack thereof. It’s true that LED fixtures are maintenance-free, but that’s because they have no serviceable parts. They have a finite lifespan, composed as they are of pieces of electronic equipment much like a flatscreen TV.   .... "