WEEE Regulations

   - Posted: 11/10/2007

Image of WEEE Regulations

Lamps & Lighting have discharged its WEEE responsibilities via membership of the Lumicom Producer Compliance Scheme; visit www.lumicom.co.uk

Lumicom is a not for profit initiative of the Lighting Industry Federation, the national organisation representing the interests of companies in the B2B professional sector of the lighting industry.  Its speciality is non-household luminaires but it will take care of Lamps & Lighting’s responsibilities in respect of all categories of B2B electrical equipment.

This will involve a disposal contribution of £0.20 per luminaire and £0.15 per gas discharge lamp.

Under the Lumicom scheme, any luminaires that are being discarded by an end-user, i.e. by the business in which they were last used by the owner in pursuit of his trade or profession, who subsequently had those discarded fittings replaced by our luminaires, can, if he has proof of purchase, use the Lumicom disposal infrastructure.

If the luminaires are not being replaced, or if there is no proof of replacement at the time of disposal, Lumicom can still help, via its website, but at the disposer’s expense. 

We and Lumicom are not responsible for mixed waste or discarded luminaires, when they are replaced by non-members luminaires.

Would be disposers are advised to visit the Lumicom interactive website (www.lumicom.co.uk) where arrangements for disposal can be made.


Objective

Working with its scheme members and clients, Lumicom will be aiming to have 50,000 tonnes of non-household luminaires received by its network and transformed into raw material which will go back into manufacturing and not to landfill.


What the disposal contribution pays for

Via the disposal contribution Lumicom has been able to put in place an infrastructure for the receipt of discarded lighting equipment that will:
• Prioritise the recycling or reuse of it
• Treat it, using the best available techniques for recycling and recovery
• Ensure the environmentally sound disposal of the lighting equipment
• Declare compliance with scheme’s obligations to finance the costs of recycling
• Keep records of the amount of discarded lighting equipment delivered to an approved authorised transfer facility or an approved exporter
• Report on the electrical waste treated and the lighting equipment that scheme members have put on the market


Disposal

Lumicom is working with:
• Recolight in respect of gas discharge lamps UK wide
• EMR in respect of non-household luminaires GB wide
• AMI in respect of non household luminaires NI wide

The network of waste transfer stations is being extended on a continuing basis.

The crux of the operation is an interactive website: www.lumicom.co.uk; would be disposers are advised to visit the site to arrange disposals.

For disposals:
• in Northern Ireland, disposers will be directed to AMI
• of gas discharge lamps only, disposers will be directed to Recolight
• of batteries, disposers will be directed to G&P Batteries
• of non-household luminaires, disposers will be offered two choices:

Either a 40 cu yd container delivered to site and left for 14 days - the disposal would have to comprise of 1000 battens or 500 modular luminaires; or a delivery note that can be downloaded and that will give the disposer free access to an EMR waste transfer station. 

In each case the disposer would have to provide proof, e.g. an invoice, that a Lumicom scheme member was providing the replacement equipment and confirm that the luminaires had been stripped of hazardous components.


Legal Background

The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations require producers (i.e. manufacturers, importers and companies that sell under their own label) and in some cases users, to provide for the environmentally sound disposal of electrical equipment that has been discarded by the business sector.

A list of the equipment in scope is shown in Schedule 2 of the Regulations (see http://www.berr.gov.uk/innovation/sustainability/weee/page30269.html

In the case of equipment installed before 13.8.05, the producer of the replacement equipment is responsible for the disposal of the discarded equipment.  If no replacement equipment has been ordered at the time of disposal, the disposer is responsible for the environmentally sound disposal.

In the case of equipment installed after 13.8.05, the producer of the equipment being discarded is responsible for its disposal (see Regulation 9).

The Regulations require producers to register with an approved compliance scheme, such as Lumicom.