DUAL USE CLASSIFICATION

OF WEEE LIGHTING EQUIPMENT AS B2B OR B2C

Government guidance on how Producers should decide if products are classified as Household (B2C), or Non-Household (B2B).

Scope of electrical & electronic equipment (EEE) covered by the UK WEEE Regulations  Issued by the EA Oct 2018

Previously the approach to classification as B2B or B2C was largely based upon the route to market – sales through retailers were B2C, and other channels were B2B. That has now changed. Producers should now use the nature of the product as the basis for the decision.

 

Government guidance: How to correctly identify B2B and B2C EEE & WEEE

Products that are designed solely for businesses should be classified as B2B. Those that are designed for consumers or for both businesses and consumers should be classified as B2C.

The Government guidance includes general principles, and then specific examples to show how those principles should be applied for each of the different categories of equipment.

It is for each Producer to make their own assessment of their products, using steps 1-3 in the Government guidance. It should be noted that guidance on lamps and luminaires inevitably diverges: lamps are generally more generic and interchangeable than luminaires.

Recolight lamp and luminaire classification advice

Our advice for producers has been written in consultation and agreement with the Lighting Industry Association. The Recolight and LIA advice are both fully aligned to the BIS guidance.

Luminaires (category 5)

An example of a dual use luminaire is a downlight designed to take a GU10 or MR16 lamp.
We recommend that you classify luminaires (both traditional, and LED integrated) as B2B. The following are examples that could be considered as ‘dual use’.

  • Downlights and spotlights of a domestic scale
  • Batten fittings
  • Domestic scale decorative fittings
  • Corridor/bulkhead luminaires of a domestic scale
  • Any luminaires currently considered as B2C

Scale typically refers to the size of fittings.
The above products could all be regarded as dual use, and therefore B2C.  Emergency luminaires should be classified as B2B.

Gas Discharge Lamps and LED Light Sources (category 13)

The guidance states “The majority of lamps are designed and capable of dual use so should be classified as B2C. Classify as B2C gas discharge lamps, LED light sources (lamps) and sodium lamps (includes retrofit and non-retrofit lamps). Classify as B2B floodlights for stadiums and lamps used in cinema projectors.”
We recommend that you classify all lamps (both traditional and LED) as B2C except the following:

  • Lamps for use in stadium lighting
  • Xenon and LED cinema projector lamps
  • Any similar lamps designed specifically and solely for industrial applications

As a reminder, all incandescent lamps remain out of scope of the WEEE regulations.

Models must be either B2B or B2C

It is important to note that you must classify a product either as B2C or B2B. You cannot split your data to record the same product as partly B2C and partly B2B. This is a change from the previous system, in which it was possible to record a proportion of product as B2B, and B2C.

Interplay with the Energy Labelling Regulations

The Government has confirmed that classifying dual use products as household for the purposes of the WEEE regulations does not mean that those products necessarily need to comply with the energy labelling regulations. The scope and applicability of the energy labelling regulations is not influenced by classification decisions under the WEEE regulations.

Dual Use and the visibility of WEEE charges

On 25th December 2015 the WEEE regulations were changed to allow Producers to show WEEE fees as a separate line item on invoices, unless the products are sold direct to consumers.  It is important that each Producer takes their own decision if, and to what extent, to make WEEE fees visible in this way.

Regulation 51 used to read:

A person must not show a purchaser at the time of sale of new EEE the costs of financing the collection, treatment and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE from private households.

Regulation 51 now states:

A producer or distributor must not show a person, who purchases EEE otherwise than in the course of a business at the time of sale of new EEE the costs of financing the collection, treatment and environmentally sound disposal of WEEE from private households.

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