In this issue:

Introduction from Nigel Harvey
Congratulations to all our collection points - with your help we collected and.... [VIEW MORE]

Congratulations
With the support of your hard work, Recolight has funded the collection and.... [VIEW MORE]

Nominate a collection point
If you know of a business that would benefit from joining Recolight’s.... [VIEW MORE]

Where do all the lamps go?
Did you know........over 90% of the weight of lamps we.... [VIEW MORE]

Collection point of the month – AN Eletrical, Bridgend
A.N. Supplies in Bridgend, South Wales, has over 30 years experience... [VIEW MORE]

Feature your collection point
We would like to feature members' Commercial Collection Points (CCPs) in.... [VIEW MORE]

Battery Regulations Made Simple
You will soon be contacted by us to arrange your free battery.... [VIEW MORE]

Brands to be collected
Thanks must go to the ongoing support of Recolight producer members, virtually all of whom have.... [VIEW MORE]

Congratulations to all our collection points - with your help we collected and recycled more that 10million lamps from January to June 2009, and in this month’s newsletter we will be celebrating this amazing achievement.  We will also be explaining all you need to know about the battery regulations, advising on proposed changes to the WEEE Directive and meeting one of our Welsh collection points, AN Supplies.

Nigel Harvey

With the support of your hard work, Recolight has funded the collection and treatment of well in excess of 10million lamps from business sources in the first six months of 2009.  Remarkably, and in spite of the fact that they have a very low individual weight, lamp collections were the second highest tonnage of all categories of waste electrical and electronic equipment collected from businesses and reported to the Environment Agency.  The tonnage of waste business lamps recorded by Recolight for the first six months of 2009 was 2,207 tonnes – 13.25 million lamps. The only waste stream to record higher tonnages was the IT and Telecomms industry.  This demonstrates the fantastic level of commitment of the lamp industry and our collection points to recycling, so thank you for helping us make this happen.

If you know of a business that would benefit from joining Recolight’s free collection network or a customer who needs a free one-off lamp collection, why not let us know? As we look to expand our network we welcome nominations from existing network members. Any nominations that result in new collection point or a one-off lamp collection will be entered into our prize draw to win a bottle of bubbly. And remember, as a Recolight collection point we want to celebrate your recycling achievements. Why not get in touch and we can feature you in our newsletter and on our website.

The Swedish Presidency of the European Union has issued a proposed recast of the WEEE directive.  It includes a number of proposed changes, including the suggestion that recycling targets should be set at 65% of the average of the previous two years “put on market” figures.  Given the huge growth in lamp sales over the last two years, and the typical six year life of a lamp, this target would be difficult for the lamp industry to achieve.  Recolight is in active discussions to propose appropriate targets for the lamp industry, recognising the fact that we are committed to substantially increasing recycling.  Look out for updates on these discussions in future newsletters.

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A.N. Supplies in Bridgend, South Wales, has over 30 years experience in the electrical wholesale business. Operating with three core principles: rapid service, quality products, and offering the right price, A.N. Supplies offers customers a full range of products. All of the five branches of A.N. Supplies pride themselves on informing customers about current products and legislation to enable them to make the most cost effective and energy efficient product selection.
 
Barry Simpson, Environmental Manager at A.N. Supplies said “We became a Recolight collection point because our customers wanted a local recycling point. We’re also committed to embracing green working practices in everyday business and are continuing to look for ways to actively reduce our carbon footprint and impact on our environment.

“Being a Recolight collection point has definitely led to an increase in customers. Our customers using our recycling point get to know our range of products and return to buy them. We’ve also seen an increase in customers replacing what they recycle with new product from our shelves.”

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Battery regulations – made simple
You will soon be contacted by us to arrange your free battery collection box.  This is being provided to you through our recent partnership with ERP (European Recycling Platform), an Environment Agency approved battery compliance scheme.  By partnering with ERP we can collect waste batteries and lamps at the same time. By combining two waste streams, we can use the same transport infrastructure for both products, helping to reduce CO2 emissions.

• Here we provide a summary of what the battery regulations mean:

On the 5th May 2009 the Waste Battery and Accumulators regulation became law. In other words, producer responsibility similar to the WEEE Regulations was introduced. The regulations issue guidance on treatment standards and set collection and recycling targets.

The Regulations are split into 2 categories and are defined as follows:-
Waste Portable

• sealed and hand carriable
• able to be used by either consumer or industrial users

Industrial and Automotive

• designed exclusively for professional use
• sealed, but not ‘hand-carriable’
• unsealed, but not automotive
• could be used as power source for electric vehicle
• used for starting, lighting or ignition in a vehicle.

Requirements for Producers of Automotive and Industrial batteries are straightforward and as follows:

• register with BERR directly  by October 31st 2009
• provide sales and returns data annually by January 31st each year
• offer and publicise free take back services to customers or final holders
• finance the recycling of any batteries returned to you

Requirements for Producers and Retailers of waste portable batteries are more involved:-

Sellers of Batteries

• retailers selling more than 32kg of portable batteries per year* (approx. 30 AA cells per week) must provide consumer recycling points in store
• batteries included in other equipment are excluded from retailer obligations. (A retailer is only obligated on individual battery units)

Producer requirements:

• for those who produce over 1 tonne per year:
• register with a compliance scheme by October 15th 2009
• scheme must provide consumer collection and recycling information
• provide 2009 sales data by January 31st 2010 (quarterly data thereafter)
• finance the recovery of a target percentage of sales

For those who produce less than 1 tonne per year:

• register directly with appropriate environment agency
• provide 2009 sales data by January 31st 2010 (annual data thereafter)

Where do you fit into the Chain?

Brands to be collected
Thanks must go to the ongoing support of Recolight producer members, virtually all of whom have reconfirmed their membership for 2010 – indeed our membership numbers are set to rise in 2010. This means we can confirm that to avoid the need for Collection Points to make alternative arrangements for non-Recolight members, all waste lamps of both member and non-member brands can be deposited in Recolight collection point containers, until at least the end of the 2010 WEEE compliance year. This means you do not have to consider whether Recolight is obligated in respect of the waste lamps you collect; Recolight will seek arrangements with other schemes to cover off any issues such as fair contribution.