Lighting and the Circular Economy - Cariboni Group
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15 October 2019

Lighting and the Circular Economy

The Circular Economy, a form of economy created on the basis of regeneration and reuse, in which lighting can and must play a part.
Lighting and the Circular Economy

According to the definition of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the circular economy is a form of economy created on the basis of regeneration and reuse, an economic system programmed to reuse materials in a series of production cycles, reducing waste to a minimum.

The transition towards a circular economy for the efficient use of resources is one of the priorities of the European Union agenda. The circular economy is an alternative to the traditional linear model based on “take-make-waste”, and introduces the requisites of repairability, durability and recyclability. The new approach to the creation of products, defined as Ecodesign, dictates that products should adapt to future changes, last as long as possible, use recyclable or recycled raw materials, be easily dismantled at the end of their useful life and be manufactured with a production process with as little environmental impact as possible. 

The Circular Economy with regards to lighting

With regards to lighting products, the critical elements are electric and electronic components. While technological developments allow an ever-longer lifespan for light sources and drivers, a very important factor in terms of circular economy is their removability and replaceability. These factors in fact allow for the technological updating of units over time, their repair in the event of faults, the correct disposal and recycling of waste and in general the prolonging of the products’ life cycles. It should also be said that in order to achieve true replaceability for light and power sources, it is above all necessary to standardise the dimensions, connections and mountings of these elements, and therefore an effective application of the aforementioned guidelines is still a long way off.

Other fundamental elements are the use of recyclable materials and packaging, the absence of dangerous substances and the possibility to easily separate the various materials during disposal of the product, avoiding the use of glues during production.

Cariboni Group’s attention to the environment

Over the last few years Cariboni Group, as always attentive to environmental issues, has developed its products in line with the principles of the circular economy, selecting light sources and drivers with elevated lifespans, guaranteeing the replaceability of optic and power units, using recyclable materials, creating increasingly durable and reliable products and rendering the updating, maintenance and disposal of the products simple.

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