Electric.ie March April 2021

32 ELECTRIC.IE • The Magazine & Website for the Irish Electrical Industry • Industry News AEW and WEEE Ireland - Partners in the drive to promote WEEE Recycling in 2021 T he Association of Electrical Wholesalers (AEW) and WEEE Ireland are redoubling their efforts in 2021 to drive a big increase in the recycling of waste lighting through the AEW’s 130 Electrical Wholesale outlets in Ireland. WEEE Ireland CEO Leo Donovan comments: “WEEE Ireland has been working on behalf of the lighting sector to organize the collection and recycling of waste lighting for the past 16 years. The success of the scheme is due to the participation of all the stakeholders across the lighting industry, from Manufacturers/Distributors to Electrical Wholesalers to Electrical Contractors. We should be very proud of the infrastructure we have developed together to facilitate the return and recycling of waste lighting across all 26 counties. In particular, our main recycling partner, Irish Lamps Recycling (ILR), has worked very effectively not only with Electrical Wholesalers to collect waste lighting from their premises but also with Electrical Contractors to collect waste lighting directly from construction sites”. “The lighting industry has undergone significant changes since WEEE Ireland started its scheme back in 2005. Today, LED integrated luminaires are the first choice for most new installations and refurbishments, supporting many of the objectives of new Climate Change, Circular Economy and Sustainable Product legislation due to their long-lasting durability and their energy efficiency. As a result, lighting products such as fluorescent tubes and CFLs and their associated luminaires are being replaced every day of the week and, as they are all hazardous to the environment, they need to be recycled responsibly by everyone”. AEW Administrator Ken Legros reports: “As an organization, the AEW has really started to pull together over the last 12 months and our membership has now expanded to a total of 130 branches with the recent addition of CEF’s 13 branches plus a number of new independent members too. WEEE Recycling is not only a vital service that AEWmembers can offer to their customers to help them to get rid of their used lamps and luminaires in an environmentally-friendly way, but it also has commercial benefits too because it brings repeat customers back to their Trade Counters”. Two of the best examples of Electrical Wholesalers who have embraced WEEE Recycling as a key part of their overall service to customers are M. Kelliher Electrical in Ballymount and Clifford Electrical in Sligo. “We treat WEEE Recycling as part of our everyday business”, says Leo Donovan, CEO of WEEE Ireland