Why electrical contractors have a key part to play in tackling the climate crisis

from ECN Lighting Supplement 2021

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Nigel Harvey is CEO of Recolight, the WEEE compliance and collection scheme for the lighting industry. Nigel explains that the way in which electrical contractors remove used light fittings when installing new fittings can contribute to tackling the climate crisis.

We need to keep products in use longer, rather than simply destroying them, or recycling them All of us must now be aware of the scale of the global challenge that the climate crisis presents. And while the biggest changes that are needed are at governmental level, there is a lot that businesses can also do to make a difference.

One of the crucial changes that is needed is to fully embrace and adopt circular economy principles. In short, we need to keep products in use for longer, rather than simply destroying them, or recycling them. That improves resource efficiency and saves the carbon footprint associated with making new products.

A vital way of achieving this in the lighting sector is to make used fittings available for remanufacture when they are replaced. Re-use like this has much better environmental outcomes – the body of the fitting is retained, and the light source or control gear can be checked or upgraded.

Clearly for this to happen successfully in the UK, we need a number of changes:

• Customers and specifiers need to start to request used fittings, and pleasingly, Recolight is already beginning to see this. • Manufacturers need to develop the competencies needed to remanufacture fittings, and ensure they are still compliant with relevant legislation. Again, this is starting to happen. Recolight is already aware of several members of its WEEE scheme, and other companies, that now see remanufacture as a viable business opportunity. • As a WEEE scheme, Recolight now collects additional information regarding the used fittings that are being removed whenever one of its members is supplying LED luminaires to new projects. Recolight will make that information available to companies that could remanufacture or upgrade the fittings, and upon request, will deliver the used fittings to the remanufacturer.

But the role of the electrical contractor in this new approach is crucial. For a product to be re-usable, it must be kept in reasonable condition. In particular, that means trying to minimise any damage to the fittings as they are removed, and stacking them carefully. So, where Recolight identifies a project that will result in the removal of product that a remanufacturer is willing to accept, it will include this in its discussions with the contractor. Recolight hopes that the contractor will be willing to attempt to keep the product in good condition, in the knowledge that, without liability, they are contributing to a more circular economy.

To help the process, Recolight will provide the contractor with bales of cardboard bubble wrap, and asks that the products be wrapped, palletised, and shrink wrapped. Recolight will then arrange for collection as usual, but will deliver the used fittings to the remanufacturer, rather than to a recycler. This also means that the used fittings should not be classified as waste, which eliminates some of the paperwork and red tape.

Recolight recognises that this is a ‘big ask’ for the contractor – in particular that it is likely to involve more staff time. The company wants the contractor to gain clear reputational and commercial benefits from ‘doing the right thing’. As a result, for each project that results in successful luminaire re-use, it will issue the contractor with a ‘certificate of circular excellence’, which they can use to demonstrate their credentials when bidding for future contracts. Recolight intends to include an estimate of the carbon footprint saving on the certificate, which will help once this is included in the Common Assessment Standard. Many clients, particularly those that have already made commitments on net zero, will value the carbon footprint saving the contractor has generated. Recolight will also, particularly with the first few successful projects, look to publicise case studies of those contractors that have successfully contributed to luminaire re-use.

The climate crisis is, without doubt, the biggest challenge humanity has ever faced. Facilitating the re-use of used luminaires is one small way in which our industry can respond to this challenge.