Online Sales of Non-Compliant Products – EucoLight Workshop brings together leading European Associations to highlight the scale of the problem
EucoLight, the European WEEE lighting trade association, is hosting a half day workshop on 17 Oct in Brussels to discuss the scale of the online non-compliance problem. Speakers from leading European Associations will share experiences, including WEEE freeriding, VAT non-payment, and non-compliance with safety standards. Policy makers and key stakeholders will debate challenges, visions and possible solutions to ensure a level playing field.
As Marc Guiraud, Secretary General of EucoLight, points out: “The Digital economy is a success story. Nevertheless, a recent OECD report indicated though that non-compliance is a growing concern for products sold online. In our experience the lighting sector is particularly vulnerable to free riding as products are small, lightweight, and robust enough to be shipped easily. But, consequences from this problem are widespread and rules for product safety, environmental regulations, tax compliance and internal market regulations are affected. We have therefore invited representatives from various sectors and institutions to present.”
Nigel Harvey, Recolight CEO and Vice President of EucoLight added “Recolight have drawn attention to the large scale online WEEE freeriding detected in the lighting sector. And although that is of profound significance to all legitimate operators in the WEEE industry, the problem is far wider. Consumers seem to be offered products that do not comply with safety or environmental standards, and on which VAT is not paid, on an unprecedented scale. I am delighted to be speaking at the workshop and look forward to hearing from legislators on actions being planned.”
The agenda and registration details for the event can be found on the EucoLight website
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Contact
For further information contact Marc Guiraud, Secretary General EucoLight – marc.guiraud@eucolight.org
About EucoLight
EucoLight is the voice of European WEEE compliance schemes specialised in managing the collection and recycling of WEEE lighting; working to make the circular economy a reality for lighting products. On behalf of its 19 members, EucoLight engages with everything related to the WEEE Directive, legislation and standards affecting the collection and recycling of WEEE lighting. EucoLight members collect and recycle, in aggregate, 79 % of the lamps waste collected in the 18 countries in which they operate.
About Recolight
Recolight takes on responsibility for its Members’ WEEE compliance, giving their customers access to the UK’s most comprehensive free lamp and luminaire collection and recycling service. We help to ensure that waste lighting equipment is kept out of landfill.
Recolight’s comprehensive offering makes it the preferred WEEE scheme for the lighting industry, setting the standard for the sector. It is the only WEEE compliance scheme in the UK to provide integrated waste lamp and luminaire collection and recycling.
It has the biggest UK-wide network of over 3000 collection points. As a result, in 2007, Recolight has funded the recycling of 300 million lamps, LEDs and luminaires, more than all other UK WEEE schemes put together. Recolight is the leading UK compliance scheme for lighting.
