Code of Practice for luminaire remanufacture GREENLIGHT ALLIANCE TOM RUDDELL
Tom Ruddell, Lead Remanufacture Engineer at EGG Lighting, provides guidance on how a code of practice for the remanufacture of luminaires can help the lighting industry shift to a circular economy.
Remanufacture is an industrial process that creates a new product from used and new products or parts/components. Lighting equipment has always been changed, modified, fixed, converted and everything in-between. Yet while other industries such as electronics, automotive and others have well-established and well-defined circular economy processes built into their industries, these models are still at the periphery of the lighting industry. As the lighting industry starts offering not only upgradeable fittings but developing the capabilities to do so alongside traditional manufacturing models, we will need generally understood terminology and processes to successfully bridge the gap to the circular economy. At the end of 2020, a group of lighting industry professionals formed around the idea of writing a standard that would do just that - and offer the industry a general process for the remanufacture of luminaires, building on existing best practice in the BS 8887 family of standards.
Motivations
Why are we so enthusiastic about remanufacture and circular processes? In the context of a climate crisis remanufacture is a critical technique – it can reduce cost, reduce waste, reduce carbon, and improve performance – all at the same time. Luminaires are complex assemblies and cleaning, shredding, and recycling them is energy and resource-intensive – so keeping components in their finished condition can save a lot of waste and carbon. Take the example of a cast aluminium housing – it’s clear that blasting and re-coating will entail less embodied carbon than making the component again from scratch. Remanufacture also tends to shorten supply chains – shifting the focus away from importing finished goods and thereby reducing transport emissions. Remanufacture also goes hand-in-hand with technology upgrades, which is crucial in the lighting industry. Replacing outdated lighting components with today’s technology, and reinvesting cost savings derived from reusing 134 / 135
components means that remanufactured products can be better than new. This means remanufacture can be a force for reducing energy costs, improving lighting quality and delivering connected lighting – while offering an alternative to scrapping entire lighting systems and starting again.
Variety in all ways
Around 40,000 tonnes of lighting equipment is placed on the UK market alone each year – a massive amount. The variety therein is so vast that no single approach could encompass them all – so the committee has taken great care to ensure the standard will be as widely applicable as possible. We’ve considered an exhausting range of remanufacture scenarios – from heritage products to barely-used LED fittings (for example Class A fit-outs or trade shows), warranty returns, manufacturing rejects, emergency conversions, damaged products, lighting with failed control systems, lighting installations needing to adapt to a change-of-use – and the list goes on. The committee has also been careful to consider different remanufacture models. While remanufacture is traditionally conducted at an industrial facility, we recognise that lighting can and will be remanufactured wholly or partly ‘on-site’ or even in temporary or mobile workshops. The same goes for business models – ranging from OEMs remanufacturing own-brand fittings inhouse or through third party operators to independent remanufacturers – we may soon see the development of markets for remanufactured and used components. Being open to and aware of all these options will encourage innovative circular approaches, specific to the needs of our industry.
Compliance
Compliance is a key consideration at all stages of remanufacture and is certainly the most-discussed topic by the committee. How do you ensure a remanufactured luminaire is ‘compliant’ and suitable for CE or UKCA marking? What is the implication of remanufacturing on-site? How do