Eclipse (Distributors) Ltd    
  Specialist distributor of lamps and lighting to wholesalers and distributors

WEEE UPDATE NOV 2010

When the WEEE Levy was introduced in July 2007, it was intended that all WEEE charges would have to be included in the selling price and could not been shown as a visible fee by 2011. It has now been decided that this will only apply to Sales to Consumers and Retailers and will come into force from February 2011. The option to either include the WEEE charges in the selling price or to show this as a visible fee will still apply to Business to Business sales.

Eclipse (Distributors) Ltd will continue to offer both options but this must be stated on all orders placed.

WEEE UPDATE DEC 2009

It has been announced by Recolight that the charge for all Discharge and Fluorescent Lamps (not including Compact Fluorescent Lamps with Integral Ballast) will reduce from 15p per lamp to 10p per lamp from 1st January 2010. This is in line with the stated intention of reducing all WEEE charges wherever possible.

After much debate, all replacement LED products including MR16 and GU10 types will shortly come under the scope of the WEEE directive. The WEEE Levy has been set at 3p

WEEE UPDATE DEC 2008

It has been announced by Recolight that the WEEE charge for all CFLi's (Compact Fluorescent Lamps with integral ballast) will be reduced to 3p per lamp from 1st December 2008. The reasons for the reduction for this product range only include the following:

1. The drive towards the replacement of incandescent lamps with CFLi's will produce a significant short term increase in the sales of this product range. This changes the Recolight costing model.
2. The average life of a CFLi is around 6 years. Consequently the cost of recycling this increase in sales will not be incurred for 6 years.
3. CFLi's are mainly used in domestic/household applications where the current rate of return is very low. It is, however, anticipated that the rate of return will increase as the general public become more aware of the need for recycling. 
4. The reduced figure of 3p per lamp is conditional on the above market assumptions. If the market does not conform to these assumptions, then the cost will be reviewed accordingly. 
5. It is anticipated that the reduced charge of 3p and the standard charge of 15p will converge in the medium to long term.

Eclipse (Distributors) Ltd will charge the reduced rate of 3p per lamp for all CFLi's from 3rd December 2008.

WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT REGULATIONS 2006 (WEEE)

The above directive became law on January 2nd 2007 but came into effect on 1st July 2007. This puts the responsibility for the collection and recycling of all Gas Discharge Products  (Fluorescent, Compacts and all Discharge Lamps) on the designated producer of the product. The additional cost to the producer will be added to the cost of all products sold from 1st July 2007.

The 4 major UK suppliers (Philips, Osram, GE and Sylvania) have established a joint venture, not-for-profit  Approved Compliance Scheme called Recolight to deal with their obligations under the WEEE directive. The cost of collection, recycling and administering this Scheme will be covered by a fixed cost that  will be the same for any lamp falling within the WEEE Directive and this will be charged as a separate line on every invoice as a visible fee.

The charge has been fixed at 15p per lamp. Although each individual producer can charge what they like it appears that most other producers are charging 15p per lamp as well.

As a Distributor of products that fall within the WEEE Directive, Eclipse (Distributors) Ltd will  pass on the additional fee to all Customers  from the 1st July 2007.

The WEEE levy is subject to VAT and we will allow settlement discount to be taken.  All products that fall within the WEEE directive have WEEE included in the product description.

Eclipse (Distributors) Ltd are not a Designated Collection Facility (DCF). Consequently we cannot accept back any end of life lamps. For details of the DCF's or to find out the conditions under which Recolight will collect end of life lamps, please contact them directly on 0845 601 7749 or at www.recolight.co.uk.

If you have any comments on the above, please email them to us at Eclipse E-Mail