Industry calls on all lamp producers to offer free lamp recycling
A survey commissioned by Recolight has shown that 95.1 per cent of respondents think that all lamp producers should be required to offer free recycling. Recolight, the leading WEEE compliance scheme for the lighting industry, partnered with Voltimum to assess industry opinions on lamp recycling.
There was a clear response from industry professionals with 95.1 per cent of the 780 respondents agreeing that all lamp producers should be required to offer free lamp recycling to their customers. 90.4 per cent agreed that the Government should set higher recycling targets for business and household WEEE lighting.
Recolight is unique amongst WEEE compliance schemes in the UK for having the only dedicated open collection point network for consumer and business waste lamps and LEDs. With over 1,000 of the 3,200 collection points being free and open to all, the Recolight network contributed to a significant increase in the UK’s lamp recycling rate – up from 23 per cent in 2008 to 52.8 per cent in 2013.
The results of the survey mirror a recent Government consultation on the way ‘dual use’ products are reported under the WEEE regulations. The consultation may change the way that the business WEEE system works. Dual use products are those that can be used by both businesses and consumers.
The survey also found that 69.7 per cent of respondents believe that Recolight’s recycling service is ‘most important’ for encouraging recycling.
Commenting on the survey results, Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey said “The message is clear: business users want all lamp producers to offer free lamp recycling. As this is a possible outcome of the consultation, business users might just get what they have asked for. Dual use is already widely used in Europe. It is right that producers take responsibility for their market share of recycling. This change will help promote recycling throughout the lighting industry.”
The 130 Producer Members of Recolight are already committed to keeping lighting waste from contaminating the environment. Together, they have financed the recycling of more lamps, LEDs and luminaires in total than all other UK WEEE schemes combined, resulting in a saving of over 800kg of mercury from landfill.
