UK’s lighting WEEE compliance scheme, Recolight, has welcomed Defra’s announcement of the 2018 national target for waste lamp recycling.
Defra initially considered setting the target at 5256 tonnes, but following a consultation in early March, they have increased this to 5517 tonnes. Recolight says it welcomes this “marginal increase”.
Commenting on the news, Recolight CEO Nigel Harvey said “There is currently significant volatility in waste lamp collections. The tonnage collected increased from 2015 to 2016, but then fell back in 2017.
“A number of different factors are driving these changes. Top of the list is the large-scale adoption of LED integrated luminaires which result in large quantities of fluorescent tubes becoming waste before they reach end of life.”
“A number of different factors are driving these changes. Top of the list is the large-scale adoption of LED integrated luminaires which result in large quantities of fluorescent tubes becoming waste before they reach end of life.”
He added: “Setting the correct WEEE target is not straightforward. It requires a careful assessment of the tonnage of WEEE that is likely to arise, but with a dash of caution that nudges the target slightly higher.
“The risks of a lower target (some disruption to Local Authority collections) outweigh the risks of a higher target (compliance fees are paid by some WEEE schemes.”