Some 40 Peruvian stakeholders discussed the draft national-lighting, waste-management strategy, business plans, and the way forward at the “Environmentally Sound Management of Lighting Products in Peru” workshop in Lima from 25 – 27 October. The workshop, organized by the Peruvian government, took place in the context of the Peruvian United for Efficiency-en.lighten project “Lighting Market Transformation in Peru.”

Energy-efficient lighting and controls contain materials that can be recycled, recovered or reused, as well as materials that could be hazardous if simply dumped in a landfill.

Environmentally sound management of lighting products incorporates the concept of a product’s full lifecycle. It begins from raw materials used in manufacturing through to end-of-life recovery and recycling, aiming to minimise environmental impacts at all phases.

The new Peruvian “Environmentally Sound Management of Lighting Products” strategy seeks to improve national and sectoral regulation, management of electronic waste, and development of technical standards for submission of waste-management business plans.

National experts, with the support of United for Efficiency-en.lighten experts, developed the strategy.

At the outset of the workshop, the strategy was presented to representatives from Peruvian Ministries of Energy, Environment, Health and Production.

In addition, private sector representatives, including United for Efficiency manufacturing partners OSRAM and Philips Lighting, were consulted about the lighting market and on how to improve regulation and guidelines to improve the collection and recycling strategy.

Private-sector representatives involved in the collection and recycling of waste were also consulted on the lighting waste-management business plan.

The workshop finished in a high-level multisectoral meeting agreeing on the next steps.

The “Lighting Market Transformation in Peru” kicked off in 2015 and is led by the Peruvian Ministry of Energy and Mines, with the support of United for Efficiency and the Global Environmental Facility.

The Peru-United for Efficiency project aspires to: (1) strengthen the national regulatory framework promoting a sustainable efficient lighting market, (2) establish an effective verification and quality control system for lighting products, (3) establish a framework for the environmentally sound management of used lighting products, and (4) enhance stakeholders’ awareness on the benefits of advanced lighting.