SERVICE ECONOMY? Lighting has come a long way in terms of recycling and reuse, but there is still much that needs to improve across all electrical industries. Lighting as a service and product leasing schemes may all, for example, need to become more commonplace in the future
By Bryony Light and Alex Brothwood
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his coming November the UK will host the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, which new US climate envoy John Kerry has called the world’s ‘last best chance’ to avert climate catastrophe. A key, and increasingly urgent, part of the climate change discussion is resource depletion. This is an area where it is vital all of us within the lighting industry work to achieve and maintain standards of compliance; that we prioritise responsible conservation of the environment, ensure less plastic is used, that rare materials are not lost, and that as much as possible is recycled or reused.
INDO Lighting is committed to manufacturing products that are more sustainable, using high-quality materials and components, making them much easier to recycle at treatment facilities and allowing better quality ‘recyclets’ to be recovered and sold back into the supply chain.
LEGAL RECYCLING OBLIGATION
Furthermore, INDO products are ‘Direct Drive’, which means there is no driver. This results in units that not only are easier to treat and recycle but means end-users don’t need to pay for the replacement of expired drivers midway through a unit’s lifetime or
oversee an additional waste obligation. As most lighting professionals will probably be aware, there is also a legal obligation here. The lighting supply chain must ensure all lighting is treated and disposed of correctly by approved recycling facilities. Manufacturers placing more than five tonnes of electronic goods on the market per year have to join a producer compliance scheme (PCS) to manage this obligation on their behalf. Within UK street lighting, Lumicom is the largest PCS operating, and has the majority of manufacturers in the UK as active members. The scheme is well-established in the
