The implications of the WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) regulations - which are currently being finalized and come into effect in August next year - are only just beginning to be understood, though it's too early to say exactly how the government will implement this directive. So too, the RoHS (Restriction of use of Certain Hazardous Substances) directives which follow 11 months later in July 2006.
These two heavyweights come in on the back of other existing legislation, all of which has been designed to ensure that EU countries meet some fairly ambitious targets for the recycling of electrical and electronic equipment.
In anticipation of the new legislation, specialist lamp supplier Mico Lighting established a recycling service in 2003, which they officially launched at last year's PLASA Show. A year down the line, they are back at PLASA to reinforce the message that this is pretty much non-negotiable territory for the lamp manufacturers, suppliers and end-users in the industry. The reason? Within all this raft of legislation, mercury has been classified as a hazardous substance, so users of lamps containing mercury now need to find a safe and environmentally acceptable way of disposing of end-of-life lamps.
Since landfill dumping is no longer considered safe - or environmentally-friendly for that matter - emphasis has switched to recycling. And for Mico that is a welcome focus: their decision to invest in the recycling route in preference to alternatives is not only good health and safety practice, but it's also key to reducing landfill waste, a necessary change that ties in with the targets the UK government has set for reducing the number of sites classed as 'Hazardous'. However, the real gain for this industry, and why Mico have been quick to act, is that as much as 98% of lamp components can be recycled, which makes this a highly shrewd route to take, bringing very high levels of cost-effectiveness to both consumers and recyclers.
The fact that Mico Lighting has taken a lead on this issue won't surprise the company's clients and suppliers. Since its launch in the early seventies, the business has enjoyed continuous growth in an increasingly competitive market. It stocks over 5,000 product types at its 30,000sq.ft distribution centre in West Yorkshire and has a reputation in the industry for high levels of customer support. As with most of its initiatives, the decision to introduce the recycling service was very much client-led. Mico customers can now take advantage of a service that involves the delivery of recycling containers to anywhere in the UK or Ireland. On average these can hold anything from 100-3,000 lamps, so will address the needs of most businesses.
The company's launch of this service last year couldn't have been more timely: the WEEE directive has set a target to recycle up to 80% of non-filament lamps. Currently that figure sits somewhere between 5 and 10% - so there's some way to go.
Mico can be found on stand L50 at PLASA.
(PLASA Media)
