Challenger Lighting has unveiled a streamlined revitalisation initiative upgrading its luminaires using like-for-like components on site rather than seeing them go into the waste stream.
The founder and managing director of the Hampshire-based company, Richard Smith, says the team has worked hard to overcome obstacles they had seen in the past, such as removing fittings from site, transporting them back to locations across the UK and minimising waste, not to ignore wasted time waiting for new fittings to arrive prior to returning to sites.
‘When we looked closer at the costs of new luminaires versus what we could revitalise at, there was in reality no competition,’ says Smith. He says customers should expect savings of around 40 per cent from a revitalised fitting compared to new.
Challenger Lighting also provides a new five-year warranty for its refurbished luminaires having installed the same manufacturers LEDs and drivers confirming to the original standards.
The company offers on-site rectification where appropriate as well as at-height removal using scissor lifts and out of hours work.
Following the success with this initiative, Smith has gone a step further and introduced recycling of LED components with The Royal Mint.
Smith says this was a result of his seeing an article in The Times about the Royal Mint’s precious metals recovery plant in South Wales.
The 3,700 square metre facility, built to extract gold from electronic waste such as printed circuit boards, is situated on the same 38-acre site that has housed the Mint’s coin-making operations since the 1960s.
Smith says he was surprised to learn that there was no cost to have LED components collected. ’They would collect without cost and somewhat more importantly they would remunerate us, albeit at differing rates for different components and formats.
‘This in principle covers any costs we incur in removing boards from both metal or plastic housings .’
The Royal Mint also take plastic housings away at zero cost for recycling.
‘We believe this to be a positive move forward,’ says Smith, ‘to the point we have shipped some 200 Kilos to the Royal Mint over the last fortnight, noting we previously disposed of around three tonnes to places unknown during 2025.’
Challenger Lighting was formed in 2000 and services the retail, commercial and hospitality markets nationwide.
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