BSI Publishes New Standard to Guide the Lighting Industry Towards Circularity

BSI launches standard to accelerate adoption of circular economy across lighting industry
Recently, the British Standards Institution published a new standard on lighting. The national standards body of the United Kingdom will thus help guide the lighting industry toward embracing circular economy practices. BS 8887-221:2024 guides the remanufacturing of lighting products by returning them to their original or improved state, ready for resale. This is an attempt at minimizing the industry's environmental impact while encouraging sustainability practices.

Focus Waste Minimization and Resource Conservation in Remanufacturing
BS 8887-221:2024 discusses remanufacturing as one of the techniques for waste minimization and resource conservation. The technique is the reconditioning of lighting products to offer a performance level that is comparable to or more than the original performance, and with a much longer lifetime while using less raw material. Utilizing reuse rather than disposal supports the mitigation of environmental problems that are associated with production and use.

The process of remanufacturing reduces the total amount of greenhouse gas emission by up to 39%, hence significantly impacting the environment in a positive manner. A consumer study has further shown that if the quality of the remanufactured products is guaranteed, then 72% of buyers will purchase remanufactured products. This here depicts a very obvious demand for sustainable high-quality alternatives in the market.

Environment Address and Solution
This manufacture of lighting products highly contributes to the greenhouse gas emission globally. World Resources Institute calculates that 45% of all emissions are due to product use and manufacture. In this direction, industries will need to embrace the approach of the circular economy in regard to resource efficiency, minimizing the generation of waste, and reuse.

This BSI standard tries to address some of these issues in practical ways: it encourages manufacturers to make lighting products last longer. In this respect, energy consumption in this sector will reduce, virgin material consumed will be lesser, and the overall environmental footprints will be restricted.

Guidelines for Manufacturers and Designers
BS 8887-221:2024 provides guidance on how lighting industry manufacturers and designers should approach remanufacturing, what should be done and how this should be done. It guides its users on best practice over how the functionality of a product can be restored, performance enhanced, and reliability achieved. Following the quality standards in these guidelines could get businesses the consumer's confidence over remanufactured products.

The implementation of such practices is likely to speed up the transition of the lighting industry into a circular economy. In turn, change in such an essential industry as the lighting industry might force other industries to act similarly, pushing humanity toward its goals for a greener future.

Accelerating the Circular Economy
BSI’s efforts to promote circularity in the lighting sector are part of a broader movement to reduce the environmental impact of industrial practices. By adopting remanufacturing and extending product lifespans, manufacturers can help address the growing concerns over waste, resource depletion, and energy consumption.

The introduction of BS 8887-221:2024 displays the role of standards in causing this change. BSI would achieve this through the publication of clear guidance so that manufacturers and designers can effectively overcome challenges and encourage far-reaching adoption of sustainable practices.