Protecting the environment also includes correctly disposing of luminaires and lamps at the end of their working life. Many lamps, for example, should not be disposed of as ordinary household or bulky waste. They are collected and recycled.

The collection and environmentally sound disposal of waste equipment are governed in Germany by the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Act (ElektroG). Enacted in 2006, this legislation incorporates an EU directive (WEEE Directive) into national law. The ElektroG requires that waste electrical equipment should be separately collected, sorted by product group and recycled. Lighting industry products are also covered by this law. Recycling in line with the ElektroG is required for

• all fluorescent lamps and gas discharge lamps
• all luminaires not used in private households, i.e. basically the "technical" luminaires used in office and production premises.
  
  

The ElektroG does not require waste recycling for

• incandescent lamps and halogen lamps
• all luminaires used in private households.
  
  

Correct disposal of lamps

Discharge lamps contain a small amount of mercury. So spent lamps should not be treated as residual waste; they need to be disposed of as prescribed by the ElektroG. The responsibility for collection and recycling resides with manufacturers and importers.

Hence the establishment of Lightcycle Retourlogistik und Service GmbH, formed by the German lamp industry in 2006. A non-profit company, it organises the nationwide collection of spent discharge lamps for Germany's lamp manufacturers. Associated with it are municipal recycling depots and a network of voluntary collection points, where spent lamps can be returned free of charge. Lamps are also collected directly from the premises of major industrial consumers.

The system covers the following product groups:

• linear fluorescent lamps,
• compact fluorescent lamps,
• discharge lamps, including high-pressure sodium vapour lamps and
• metal halide lamps
• low-pressure sodium vapour lamps.
  
  

Incandescent and halogen lamps can still be disposed of as residual waste; they do not fall within the scope of the ElektroG.

Proper disposal of luminaires

Waste domestic luminaires are not covered by the ElektroG; they can still be disposed of as ordinary household waste.

Waste technical luminaires purchased before March 2006 for use in administration, industry, trade or commerce need to be disposed of by users themselves.

Technical luminaires purchased after March 2006 are covered by the ElektroG as "new waste equipment"; they are identified by a symbol depicting a crossed-out refuse bin and can be

• disposed of by private or public-sector users themselves – a financially attractive option given present scrap prices – or
• returned free of charge to special disposal companies. These companies act as collectors for German luminaire manufacturers. One such disposal company is Iseroh.
  
  

Nice to know: Having a long life of up to 20 years or more, these luminaires will not need to be disposed of as waste equipment until a long time after they are purchased.