EucoLight, the European Association of lighting WEEE Compliance schemes, congratulates the OECD for the recent publication of its report on ‘Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the impact of online sales’, to which EucoLight members contributed.

EucoLight considers that this recognition of the challenge of online WEEE non-compliance, or free-riding, faced by EPR organizations is a vital first step to addressing the problem. Furthermore, EucoLight wholeheartedly endorses the recommendation to define multi seller online platforms as ‘producers’ of the products that they list from non-registered companies, and that transit through their fulfilment houses.

As the report indicates, online WEEE non-compliance is hindering the efficiency and effectiveness of EPR systems and affecting around 5 to 10% of the total OECD Electric and Electronic Equipment (EEE) market. This issue affects especially small EEE devices, such as lamps. EucoLight has been promoting policy responses to tackle such WEEE non-compliance and is actively facilitating the debate among stakeholders and institutions, and to identify possible solutions.

As EucoLight Secretary General, Marc Guiraud explains ‘EPR schemes, which aim to make producers responsible for the environmental impact of the products they sell, have been key in increasing recycling and collection rates. However, when producers selling online avoid their obligations, they impose an unfair burden in the rest of the system and on compliant producers.  The non-declared distance sales also prevent the correct evaluation of the collection rates, and consequently the achievement of the collection targets, which should be based on the total tonnage of products put-on-the-market.

About EucoLight:

EucoLight is the voice of European WEEE compliance schemes specialised in managing the collection and recycling of WEEE lighting; working to make the circular economy a reality for lighting products. On behalf of its 19 members, EucoLight engages with everything related to the WEEE Directive, legislations and standards affecting the collection and recycling of WEEE lighting. EucoLight members collect and recycle, in aggregate, 79 % of the lamps waste collected in the 18 countries in which they operate.

Founded mid-2015, EucoLight has quickly embarked into constructive dialogue with relevant stakeholders to provide expertise in the field of management and treatment of WEEE lighting and to promote the positive role of Extended Producer Responsibility schemes on the environment and society.

For more information, visit the EucoLight website www.eucolight.org, follow EucoLight on Twitter @EucoLight or contact the Secretary General, Marc Guiraud (marc.guiraud@eucolight.org).