In this issue:

An introduction from Eddie Taylor
Happy New Year and welcome to the seventh edition of the Recolight newsletter, and the first of 2009. The beginning of the year is always a stimulating.... [VIEW MORE]

Peter Lees - Looking forward
2009 will see the second anniversary of the implementation of the WEEE Regulations and it will be a busy year as.... [VIEW MORE]

Know your regulations - UK news
In December (BERR) released its consultation document on the Government’s proposed revisions to the WEEE Regulations. The proposals are.... [VIEW MORE]

Ask Recolight
This month's frequently asked question is "what happens to your recycled lamps?" Various methods have been.... [VIEW MORE]

RecoNet Collection point survey
Over the next few weeks we have commissioned our PR agency Eloqui to conduct a satisfaction survey on our behalf amongst a sample of our RecoNet collection point members and members will be contacted directly by Eloqui. We value all feedback so please do respond and, if you are not contacted directly but would like to provide feedback, please email mbush@eloquipr.co.uk for a copy of the questionnaire.  All responses will be treated in confidence and the results synopsis will be published in our eNewsletter.

2009 will see the second anniversary of the implementation of the WEEE Regulations and it will be a busy year as we work to increase lamp collections amongst both business users and consumers. 2008 levels of B2B WEEE lamp collections continued to grow but it remains essential to keep on with raising awareness and improving collection infrastructures in order to increase those levels still further. Household lamp collections remain significantly lower despite provision of facilities by local authority recycling centres and some retail take-back services, indicating a need for solid plans from relevant stakeholder groups to obtain much needed improvement.  We are working closely with BERR - the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, DEFRA, the Energy Saving Trust and WRAP (www.wrap.org.uk/) to provide support for the government's WEEE consumer awareness campaign and propose to trial our own pilot schools education programme in the summer under the title of “The Big Light Project".

We are also continuing to investigate ways to make householder lamp collection as simple (for the consumer) and cost effective (for our members) as possible. We intend to engage in discussions with the electrical retail trade with a view to encouraging more voluntary take back of CFLis at the point of sale and we are studying secure container designs that will allow householders to bring back end of life lamps to such collection points safely and easily.

In December (BERR) released its consultation document on the Government's proposed revisions to the WEEE Regulations. The proposals are aimed at streamlining the UK WEEE system to improve the Producer Compliance Scheme (PCS) approval process, develop the Distributor Take-back Scheme (DTS) beyond its current approval period, and reduce the administrative burdens placed on business by simplifying the data reporting requirements and the evidence system.

LED products now ‘in scope'
The Environment Agency has just issued new guidance concerning the scope of Lamps and Luminaires within the WEEE Regulations. For LED products sold as separate items as an alternative to a tungsten filament bulb similarly to a compact fluorescent lamp, and designed to fit a standard household lighting, the situation has been clarified and these products are now to be considered as ‘in scope'.

Recolight joins forces with WRAP on consumer campaign
BERR has recently appointed WRAP to undertake a national campaign aimed at encouraging consumers to take their small WEEE back to civic amenity sites. WRAP will be preparing material for local authorities to distribute to householders under its ‘Recyclenow' brand developed for their dedicated website dealing with a wide range of recycling issues. This project will be rolled out on a pilot basis initially this Spring and then extended nationally in the second half of 2009. Recolight has asked that CFLIs be included in the national roll out and has pledged support both in the creation and production of material to ensure that awareness for recycling these important energy and carbon saving products is raised to a significantly higher level.

Is your premises code up to date?
In England and Wales (as part of the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005) any business that produces more than 200kgs of hazardous waste a year requires a premises code.  The purpose of the code is to register you and your site as a "producer" of hazardous waste with The Environment  Agency, and your premises code should always be quoted on any consignment note relating to the movement of waste from your site.

Most of you will know what your premises code is, but do you know it has to be renewed with the Environment agency every twelve months. Keeping your premises code up to date is important as the waste can't be removed from your site without it. You can check if your premises code is up to date on the Environment Agency's public register at http://www2.environment-agency.gov.uk/epr/search.asp .

Renewing your code can be done through the Environment Agency website and costs £18 (£23 by phone, £28 by post) and you can make mass applications. Visit http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/waste/32198.aspx  to find all the information you need to renew your code. If you have any questions call us on 0845 6017749

Recolight has 1000 Commercial Collection Points across the nation. To find the nearest collection point to you click here  or call us on 0845 601 7749.

Do you want to feature your Collection Point in future e-newsletter issues?
In addition, we would like to feature members' Commercial Collection Points (CCPs) in this newsletter. If you have a CCP and would be happy for us to interview you and send a photographer to your site, please do let us know. news@recolight.co.uk

Various methods have been established for the recycling of gas discharge lamps and Recolight supports all those that are approved. Iin some cases it is possible to take recycling machinery direct to the collection site, thereby reducing the volume of transported waste back to the recycling plant. All methods are able to safely remove the mercury content and separate the other materials, including glass, plastic and metal, for reuse within manufacturing industry, including the lamp industry. Fluorescent lamp glass, for example, can to some degree be used as a raw material for the manufacture of new lamps.