DELIVERING THE LIGHTING INDUSTRY’S SOLUTIONS TO THE WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT LEGISLATION (WEEE)

Created for INDUSTRY by INDUSTRY

Welcome to Lumicom

Do the WEEE regulations affect YOU?

The new WEEE Regulations make business users, manufacturers and retailers of electrical and electronics equipment responsible for making sure their goods do not end up in landfill or incineration, where the toxic chemicals, metals and associated solders, glues and plastics can cause environmental and health problems..

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) now have cradle-to-grave responsibility for their products, having to pay for the treatment and recycling of all affected products.

You are a producer for the purposes of the WEEE Regulations if you are:

A manufacturer of EEE, selling under your own brand in the UK
A business based in the UK selling under your own brand EEE manufactured by another person
A professional importer introducing EEE to the UK market
A business based in the UK that places EEE in other European Members States by means of distance selling.

If you are a producer, you have several obligations under the WEEE Regulations:

You must join a Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS) to discharge your obligations as a producer of EEE, for example, registering as a producer, reporting data on EEE you put on the UK market, and financing any costs of treatment, recovery and disposal of WEEE in line with your obligation;
You must ensure the marking of EEE you put onto the UK market to assist with its bulking up at the end of its life. You must make information available to treatment facilities in respect of new types of EEE you put on the UK market.

You are a distributor (irrespective of selling technique) for the purposes of the WEEE Regulations if you:

Sell to the general public ie. For distributor ‘read’ retailer.

If you are selling new EEE to householders, you have obligations under the WEEE Regulations.

Retailers have an important role to play in facilitating the take back of WEEE from householders.

The main obligation for retailers is to provide a take-back service enabling them to return WEEE free of charge. The WEEE Regulations provide you with a choice of providing "in-store" take-back or participating in the Retailer Take-back Scheme, or providing an alternative system for free take-back. There is an obligation on electrical distributors to provide information on the options that are available to disposers for the free return of their WEEE and on the environmental benefits resulting from its separate treatment.

LUMICOM SCHEME

Lumicom has set up a compliance scheme that collects monthly contributions from producers, in order to pay the costs of the receipt, treatment, recovery and environmentally sound disposal of the WEEE for which its members are responsible.

Lumicom is a not for profit scheme and adjusts its charges to reflect the actual costs incurred.

Enjoy the advantages of:

Belonging to a scheme, the Board and staff of which understand your problems and will help you understand how those complex regulations apply to you
Lumicom’s knowledge / experience / technical expertise and the resources at its disposal: AATF network / reprocessors
Lumicom’s ability to handle administration on behalf of members – individual producers provide the required information to their scheme rather than each having to learn and use Environment Agency systems;
Having most of the administrative activity within the Scheme, where industry is in the best position to increase efficiency and minimise costs;
Better access to transport, treatment, and recycling;
Having generic advice on improving the recyclability of luminaires

Although it specialises in lighting equipment, as long as you operate in a business to business (B2B) environment, Lumicom can help you and is more than willing to send along a member of staff to explain your WEEE obligations to you.

The Lumicom Producer Compliance Scheme has been approved by the Environment Agency.

To participate, email registrar@lumicom.co.uk