Every year, millions of tons WEEE items (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) that contain highly hazardous and toxic materials are discarded to landfills or incinerators, which poses a big risk to the human health and the environment. Germicidal lamps, as ultraviolet-based electric equipment, is also compulsory to register in WEEE authorities? The answer is YES.
What’s WEEE?
First published in 2002 and updated in 2012, the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive has introduced new responsibilities for companies selling and distributing Electrical and Electronic Equipment with the objective of prioritizing waste prevention and in addition the reuse, recycling and recovery of WEEE so as to reduce the disposal of waste.
If you manufacture, distribute or sell electrical and electronic equipment like large/small household appliances, consumer equipment, lighting equipment etc. EU laws require that you contribute to ensuring it is disposed of and treated properly.
This means:
- Registering with the responsible national authorities (“registers”) in each country where you distribute or sell equipment
- Filing a regular report on the amount of sold electrical and electronic equipment, organising or financing the collection, treatment, recycling and recovery of your products
- As a distributor, providing a take-back service, whereby your customers can return electric and electronic waste free of charge.
- As a manufacturer, complying with the directive on the restriction of hazardous substances
Ultraviolet germicidal light is a special lighting unit that consist of lighting source and lighting related components such as sockets, plugs, ballasts etc. For this reason, there´s no doubt that it´s compulsory to register in WEEE authorities for germicidal lamps.
What GERMILED has done to comply with WEEE?
- Keep product design as simple and minimalist as possible to reduce material use. In Germiled, under the concept “Less is more”, our designers abandon the unnecessary ornaments or embellishments and create design pieces based on the vertical or dynamic lines and natural forms to create harmony and balance.
- Ensure the waste electrical is treated correctly and meet recycling targets. The disposal of E-waste is specifically regulated by 2012/19/EU. In dealing with E-waste, Germiled not only strictly follows the rules of separate collection and treatment, but also takes the initiative to properly recycle and reuse e-waste. We donate old but still fully functional pieces to schools, churches and charitable organizations. When the lamps are too old to donate, we look for a responsible recycler so that e-waste can be discarded properly and productively without having an adverse impact on human being and the environment.
- Collaborate with reliable suppliers who are capable of offering electric and electronic components that can meet the highest standards of product quality. In all Germiled series, it contains an electric ballast that makes the high-quality lighting source work in the best temperature conditions, achieving the highest performance and the longest possible life of the bulb. In addition, all the electric components applied to Germiled, like ballast, sensor, timer, sockets and plugs are certificated CE & ROHS.
EU countries are obliged to report to the European Commission every year on the achievement of the targets for WEEE collection, preparing for re-use and recycling and/or recovery. In response to this, Germiled (With WEEE Nº 7410) has adhered to a Spanish cooperative system and kept acting responsibly in lighting disposals. As one of the main manufactures of germicidal lamps for Spain and Europe, we do care about the sustainability of the planet and the human wellbeing. We promise that we will make every effort, together with you, to create a healthier and cleaner world.
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