The WEEE Regulations have applied to a range of products since 2007. A specific exclusion meant that household luminaires were also of scope – from 2019, the Regulations move to an open scope.
The household luminaire exclusion has been removed for 2019, bringing them into scope. Other lighting related products coming into scope include wiring accessories such as switches, dimmers, plugs, and sockets.
Companies that sell these products in the UK, termed producers, will need to comply with the UK’s WEEE Regulations and report their UK sales data.
To help companies that are impacted, Recolight has published The definitive guide to WEEE open scope for the lighting industry. The guide provides advice covering the new products coming into scope, and how to comply.
A summary of changes to the scope of WEEE:
• Household luminaires, wiring accessories and other equipment come into scope of the UK’s WEEE Regulations from January 2019.
• Producers of equipment coming into scope must join a Producer Compliance Scheme by November 15 2018, and start reporting the weight of the product they sell from January 2019. (Very small producers supplying less than five tonnes per year may register directly with the Environment Agency).
• Although many EU countries will move to six categories in 2019, reporting in the UK will remain with the current 14 categories.
• Certain lighting products, such as furniture with integral LED lighting, remain out of scope.