To the Manufacturers, Vendors, Accreditation Agencies, Regulators, Distributors and
Contractors of the Lighting Industry,
The past years of development and deployment in efficient solid-state lighting have been a
boon on energy use and carbon emissions. However, in the rush to create what seem to be
better lamps and luminaires, the industry may have inadvertently created a new problem
for the near future: single-use commodity fixtures, a literal mountain of unrecyclable
e-waste waiting to happen. This situation risks eroding the trust and goodwill of our
industry in the eyes of customers, the general public, and governments.
In addition, the use and definition of the term “Sustainable Lighting” has been evolving for
decades. There was a time when sustainable lighting solely meant reducing energy
consumption. It was not that long ago that the Compact Fluorescent Lamp was a symbol
of energy efficiency and sustainability within our industry. That idea has completely
inverted and the CFL has now been relegated to become a symbol of the hazardous waste
mercury era that we are trying to put behind us. Initially, with LEDs, sustainability was an
energy efficiency play, combined with mercury elimination and the extended life of the light
source.
But it is emerging that these priorities sidelined almost a century of commitment to
standardization. Most of the LED fixtures we have deployed will have to be removed and
replaced at end of life. The life of the light source and its energy efficiency have been
improved but the life cycle of the luminaires has been drastically reduced. The new
definition of Sustainable Lighting demands that at a minimum, we increase the length of
the life cycle of LED Luminaires to match that of legacy luminaires (25 – 40 years).
This trade of energy waste for physical garbage can be mitigated with a few savvy changes
now. As such, the undersigned call on the industry to take these actions to create more
sustainable illumination:
- Re-commitment to legacy form factors, lamp shapes and sockets
Believe it or not, our committee is calling for increased emphasis on the reintroduction and
the continued development of legacy lamp form factors, including lamp shapes and
sockets for general use light fixtures. Many, if not all, existing fixtures can benefit from LED
replacements and retrofits without having to be removed from service. Replaceable lamps
are convenient and simple for all parties and would limit material leaving walls and ceilings
for dumps. In addition, the set form factors of traditional lamp shapes have focused and
honed innovation to a point where we believe the most useful and enduring innovations are
to be found in LEDs that are built in legacy form factors to fit existing light fixtures. - Standardize new components before they go to market
We understand the limits of legacy form factors and, as such, call on the industry to
standardize the mechanical form factor size, DC voltage inputs, and wattage requirements
for drivers and LED arrays. This includes removing or limiting intellectual property rights
and other barriers to allow a secondary market for the sale of replacement parts that are
not OEM. This is standard in many industries and the concept of interoperability and
cross-manufacturer compatibility was pioneered by this industry over a century ago. We
have abandoned this and it needs to be re-established. Fixtures should be designed to be
disassembled, upgraded, retrofitted and field serviced and repaired. - Commit to more sustainable materials
Our committee could not identify any end-of-life destination other than landfill for LED light
fixture plastic, LED chips, or arrays. The committee noted that all legacy light fixture
materials, including mercury-containing light sources and PCB ballasts have end of life
destinations where contaminants are captured and the materials recycled. Our committee
is not aware of any facility that accepts end-of-life-LED light fixtures and promotes that
they recycle the components or capture hazardous wastes. It appears to us that this
recycling infrastructure has yet to be developed. If it has been developed, our industry has
done a poor job informing and enforcing the recycling of post-consumer LED lighting
waste. Either way, and unfortunately, this means they will end up in our landfills. We
suggest manufacturers rethink materials from this perspective and the industry massively
promote facilities that process this waste responsibility.
- Long-term product support
First and foremost, we advise the industry to discontinue the exaggeration of LED product
lifetimes, false marketing that “LEDs last forever”, ridiculous 10-year warranties, and
absurd hour ratings. Second, if the industry commits to standardizing new components,
allowing the organic creation of a secondary parts market, product support will be largely
unnecessary. However, if we continue on a path of consistently and constantly
custom-made drivers, arrays and other components our manufacturers should be
compelled or at least encouraged to create a long-term commitment to product support.
Sell replacement parts, continue to stock older product lines, and don’t force upgrades on
users based on an obsolescence timetable. We are not the consumer electronics industry.
Our products are often critical infrastructure and must be field serviceable and
maintainable. - Useful, transparent labeling
An informed consumer is an environmentally conscious consumer. Please make these
changes into how lamps and luminaires are labeled:
● Revisit light source-life claims testing, lab conditions are not field conditions; limit
hyperbole
● Label whether or not products are user serviceable
● Indicate if replacement parts are available
● Describe the actual terms of the warranty
● Disclose how to properly dispose of the device at end-of-life
As it stands now, the LED revolution is measured in terawatt-hours saved and tons of
e-waste generated for the landfills and burn pits of the world. Sustainability is still an option
for this industry and the entire supply chain from manufacturer to end-consumer has their
part to play.
Read more details on NAILD’s Committees