This annual report conveys several important messages. Perhaps the most fundamental among them is that our collaboration with OPEN is growing ever closer – a development that will undoubtedly further crystallize in the coming years. Now that the operational execution of collection, coordination, and value chain collaboration has been successfully transferred to OPEN, we are increasingly fulfilling the role of a responsible treasurer. After all, members still have financial reserves, and therefore assets, built up over the past twenty years, explicitly designated to fulfill producer responsibility in the lighting sector. Those reserves are intended to collect and responsibly recycle the lamps that have been marketed for all these years, once they reach the end of their lifespan. For this reason, LightRec remains the central coordinator ensuring the proper allocation of available resources to fulfill this this responsibility.
The current situation is that government pressure is increasing to meet the collection targets imposed on manufacturers, however complex that may sometimes be. This demands the further professionalization of OPEN, which is expected to lead to rising rates – particularly for the collection of luminaires, which requires considerable effort. We consider it our responsibility to carefully monitor the range of any potential new rate structure, in the interest of the lighting industry as a whole.
This interest is also paramount in the revision of the WEEE Directive, which will take shape in the coming years. Although it is still too early to make concrete statements, we anticipate further internationalization and the possible consolidation of existing bodies. Therefore, we have every reason to continue to monitor developments closely.
Finally, to ensure administrative continuity, I will remain chairman of LightRec until the end of 2025. The Board will, of course, keep you informed about my successor.
We are pleased that explicit attention is paid to lamps and luminaires within OPEN. While it is a small market segment, it has very specific challenges (particularly regarding luminaire collection). As a board member of OPEN, LightRec director Gied van Hoorn continues to actively represent the lighting sector. To this end, he maintains close contact with Fedet-NLA, EucoLight, Lighting Europe, and a broad network of other stakeholders.
At the same time, we see that OPEN is increasingly becoming the natural point of contact for lighting manufacturers, and therefore also for other stakeholders. This leads to increasingly intensive collaboration, with OPEN taking on more tasks and responsibilities, and LightRec's role likely to diminish over time. The LightRec board will continue to help ensure this transition runs smoothly in the coming period.
Within the European WEEE Directive, the focus is increasingly shifting toward a broader interpretation of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). This means that manufacturers are not only responsible for the collection and recycling of their products at the end of their life cycle, but also for sustainable product design, encouraging reuse, and minimizing the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle. Here, the so-called "R-ladder of circularity"—with steps such as Reuse, Repair, Refurbishment, and Recycling—plays a central role.
LightRec, OPEN, and related organizations like Eucolight are considering a fundamental question: where does our responsibility begin and end in this circular value chain? At their core, LightRec and OPEN are responsible for the waste phase, but their ambition to contribute more to circularity sometimes clashes with this formal division of responsibilities. A prime example of this tension is OPEN's desire to actively engage in (and promote) Repair. This brings OPEN into the domain of design, production, and product lifespan – areas traditionally reserved for lighting manufacturers.
At the same time, LightRec also recognizes that true circularity is impossible without collaboration across the entire value chain. This was emphasized during the conference "Together toward a circular e-waste sector," organized by OPEN to commemorate the 25th anniversary of EPR for electrical appliances. For LightRec, this means continuing to invest in collaboration, creating clarity about the division of roles, and seeking new connections between the design and waste phases. Only in this way can the Dutch e-waste sector continue to position itself as a pioneer within Europe and contribute to the circular objectives for 2030 and 2050.
In 2024, a significant step was taken, commissioned by OPEN and funded by LightRec, toward a circular future for luminaires in public spaces. In collaboration with manufacturers such as Modernista and Signify, research agencies The Bin and Vandegrond compiled an exploratory report with concrete recommendations for improving the end-of-life phase of luminaires. The report is based on more than twenty interviews with stakeholders across the entire value chain—from manufacturers and processors to municipalities and contractors. It reveals significant potential for improving circularity in the end-of-life phase of lighting, provided there is coordinated collaboration.
The report also describes three flagship projects that can serve as catalysts for circular innovation:
LightRec's focus is on the third project: circular chain collaboration. Given our role and our strong belief in the power of the value chain, LightRec has decided to fund this subproject, with Fedet-NLA as the formal client. Director Gied van Hoorn represents LightRec in the advisory group that oversees the implementation.
The report shows that OPEN plays a unique, connecting role within the value chain and, as an independent party, can foster collaboration and trust. At the same time, it makes clear that there are tensions between circular ambitions and commercial realities, and transparency is limited when it comes to collected volumes in public spaces. There is a need for more accurate data and effective use of existing knowledge, particularly among processors and contractors. While the supply chain demonstrates a strong willingness to collaborate, this does require shared frameworks and concrete projects. Hence, LightRec considers the report a foundation for further collaboration toward circular lighting in public spaces.
Municipal
Retail
Social
Companies
Metal recyclers
Final total
(*)
The number of drop-off points reflects the number of locations listed on the Wecycle map, i.e. public drop-off points for consumers and/or companies. These are general Wecycle drop-off points, not necessarily (only) for lamps and/or luminaires.
(**)
The number of service points is the total number of locations registered with the OPEN Foundation (in myOPEN), regardless of whether they are publicly accessible for consumer/collection companies.
The collection figures reflect a clear development: since the sales ban at the end of 2023, the collection of older gas discharge lamps (such as fluorescent and energy-saving lamps) has been steadily declining. As a result, the next five to ten years will revolve primarily around the responsible collection of so-called Altlast – the remaining volume from previous generations.
The collection of luminaires also shows a clear increase, partly thanks to the implemented incentive scheme.
The collection of LED lamps remains limited for now, although they now account for approximately 10 percent of the total – a share that is expected to increase further. OPEN and Eucolight will launch new focus projects in the coming years. How will we deal with the growing proportion of LED lighting in the lamp stream? Is separate collection desirable, or would this require adjustments to the existing collection criteria?
One central message remains important: LED lamps, like solar panels, are a product with a very long lifespan. It can take decades for these lamps to find their way to the recycling bin. This delayed effect must be explicitly considered when setting realistic collection targets.
* up to 14-8-2018 excl. household luminaires, from 15-8-2018 incl. household luminaires.
The current European collection target for e-waste is set at 65% of the average volume put on the market over the past three years (Put on Market). It has since become clear that this approach is unrealistic in practice, particularly due to the long lifespan of products like LED lamps, solar panels, and e-bikes. As a result, LightRec and OPEN expect a transition to an alternative calculation method, namely 85% of the estimated volume of waste equipment (WEEE Generated). While this is a step in the right direction, OPEN and LightRec advocate for an even more realistic and better-substantiated basis: WEEE Available for Collection.
This approach not only considers how much waste is generated, but also how much of it is realistically available for collection through formal channels. Hence, it is better aligned with the realities of collection and will result in achievable, measurable, and fair targets for all parties in the value chain. LightRec will actively promote and raise awareness of this approach in the coming period, both nationally and within European consultation structures.
Onze verwerkingspartner voert steekproeven uit om het aandeel ledlampen in de totale hoeveelheid afgedankte verlichting te bepalen. Zolang dat aandeel laag blijft, kan de ledstroom worden meegerecycled met tl- en spaarlampen. Stijgt het aandeel naar circa 15% of meer, dan is separate verwerking nodig. Er wordt daarom ingezet op ontwikkeling van AI-systemen om beide stromen te kunnen scheiden, omdat ze met het blote oog vaak lastig te onderscheiden zijn.
In the previous 2023 annual report, we announced a simplification of the financial cost overview.
Previously, our financial report always included the actual costs incurred by LightRec. However, due to the complete transition of producer responsibility from LightRec to OPEN as of January 1, 2023, there has been a significant decrease in LightRec's operational costs; the majority of these have been borne by the OPEN Foundation since the transition.
Regarding the marketing budget, while OPEN allocates its own budget for the collection and processing of all electrical appliances, lamps, and batteries, LightRec deliberately continues to incur additional campaign costs for research, information campaigns, and inherent initiatives, and continues to finance these from its financial reserves.
Regarding the collected volume, this has technically decreased to zero because, as of 2023, it is no longer LightRec's result, but the OPEN Foundation's.
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