Lumicom welcomes guidance on WEEE
The Environment Agency (EA) has released guidance on a range of electrical and electronic items that now fall within the scope of the Waste Electrical & Electronic Equipment (WEEE) regulations. These include ballasts, photo electric cells and igniters, street and traffic lights, fire alarm systems and items used in both household and non-household applications.
“Since the introduction of the WEEE Directive it has become clear that the classification of a number of items is unclear under certain circumstances,” noted Lumicom Chief Executive Ernest Magog. “This guidance is very helpful in clarifying responsibilities and ensuring that WEEE is dealt with through the appropriate routes with minimum environmental impact,” he added.
In the case of ballasts, photoelectric cells and igniters that are used within other products, the manufacturers are not considered to be EEE producers, whereas the manufacturers of the finished items are. In some cases (for example street lighting) such items may be components of a finished street lantern, or they may be placed on the market separately as spare parts. In the latter case they are classified as EEE.
There are also situations where lighting products for household applications may be used in non-household applications, such as in hotel rooms. In such cases, for a producer to support a claim that this domestic lighting is in fact non-household, they will need to provide evidence to that effect. For lighting products this is will generally be in the form of a contract between the producer and a business user/reseller.
