Explained: Your obligations under the waste regs

Lighting manufacturers, importers, contractors and specifiers all have specific responsibilities under environmental legislation when it comes to dealing with waste.
There are legal duties regarding the sale of new lighting, and the storage, transport, and reporting of waste lighting – most of which is now classified as hazardous. What is more, the legislation is changing, with new digital waste tracking due to start in 2025.
Specifically, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations oblige producers and distributors of lighting with a range of duties which they must discharge if they are to be compliant with the law.
To help the lighting sector understand the requirements of the regulations and its associated guidance, Recolight – the lighting industry’s leading WEEE compliance organisation – is to hold a special webinar on the subject at 11am on Thursday 11 April 2024. It’s free and open to all.
Recolight experts – including chief executive officer Nigel Harvey and collections development manager Lyndsey Tweddle  – will explore the regulatory landscape and the options available to comply, including the comprehensive services offered by Recolight.
They will share their advice and experience, giving you the knowledge you need to fully comply with the spirit and letter of the law. They will also assess forthcoming regulations so you are prepared for the future legislative landscape.
The webinar will be chaired by the editor of the Circular Lighting Report Ray Molony.
The webinar is the first in a series this year. On 22 May 2024, the second webinar–  Remanufacturing: The success stories – will explore how reconditioning and reusing luminaires can be a commercial, aesthetic and environmental success.
These takes for form of three real-world projects while, not without their individual challenges, achieve the clients’ goals in terms of the lit environment and sustainability. Speakers include David Clements, chief executive officer, FutureDesigns; John Bowden, founder, Silent Design; Simon Fisher, founder and director,  F Mark; and Sacha Abizadeh, head of architectural lighting, WSP.
A third webinar – Bio Plastics for Luminaires – takes place on Thursday 20 June and will ask: Do bio-plastics stand up to scrutiny as a material for luminaire housings, components and optics?
The speakers – who include Jamie Norris Green, founder, LumiAdd;
Mark Shortland, managing director, Shoplight; and Julien Vassieries, chief executive officer and founder, Batch.Works – will look at plastics made biological substances and discusst the technical challenges in using them in the lighting industry.
The panel will look at 3D printing with bioplastics as well as the opportunities with post-consumer plastics.

• Register free at https://www.recolight.co.uk/webinars/

•• Diary date: Circular Lighting Live 2024, Recolight’s flagship conference and exhibition, takes place on Wednesday 9 October 2024 at the Royal College of Physicians in London. Free to specifiers, Circular Lighting Live 2024 will feature leading experts, specifiers and policy makers who will share their insights into forthcoming standards and legislation, emerging technologies and new business models. More info: www.circularlighting.live