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Its funny that you mention the light bulbs. Actually, the EU did NOT encourage LED light bulbs for the longest time. You may recall that they banned some conve

Its funny that you mention the light bulbs. Actually, the EU did NOT encourage LED light bulbs for the longest time. You may recall that they banned some conventional wolfram based light bulbs and instead tried to force compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) to the consumer, not LEDs. This has actually lead to a huge recycling problem. The CFLs contain mercury, the plastic parts are hard to recycle and the glass can not be recycled because it is contaminated. Its not EU regulation that made the LEDs popular, it was consumer demand.

KozmoNau7 8y ago
What actually happened was that they set a minimum efficiency for lightbulbs, which tungsten bulbs didn't meet, but CFLs (and some halogens) did. LED bulbs weren't quite ready for prime time at that point. They actually did the most sensible thing possible. They set a target efficiency, and let the manufacturers figure out which technology to use in order to meet those requirements. The alternative would have been to make a specific energy-efficient technology mandatory, which would have unfairly benefited manufacturers focusing on that specific technology, and would have made the law outdated when a better technology inevitably comes along. Nobody forced CFLs on people. They were simply the best option at that time, until LED bulbs improved.
- kuschku 8y ago
  And in my family we didn't buy CFLs as response to the law, instead we bought LEDs from day one. At first they were quite bad and expensive, but due to the demand, over time, they significantly improved. It was absolutely possible.
pluma 8y ago
Do you even remember what LED bulbs were like when the traditional bulbs went the way of the dodo? The reason CFLs were popular wasn't that the EU mandated them, it was that LED bulbs at the time were utter rubbish. If anything the ban increased a demand for proper LED lighting. If everyone was still happily using tungsten I doubt we'd have anywhere near the range of quality LED lighting we have today.

KozmoNau7 8y ago

What actually happened was that they set a minimum efficiency for lightbulbs, which tungsten bulbs didn't meet, but CFLs (and some halogens) did. LED bulbs weren't quite ready for prime time at that point. They actually did the most sensible thing possible. They set a target efficiency, and let the manufacturers figure out which technology to use in order to meet those requirements. The alternative would have been to make a specific energy-efficient technology mandatory, which would have unfairly benefited manufacturers focusing on that specific technology, and would have made the law outdated when a better technology inevitably comes along. Nobody forced CFLs on people. They were simply the best option at that time, until LED bulbs improved.

kuschku 8y ago
And in my family we didn't buy CFLs as response to the law, instead we bought LEDs from day one. At first they were quite bad and expensive, but due to the demand, over time, they significantly improved. It was absolutely possible.

pluma 8y ago

Do you even remember what LED bulbs were like when the traditional bulbs went the way of the dodo? The reason CFLs were popular wasn't that the EU mandated them, it was that LED bulbs at the time were utter rubbish. If anything the ban increased a demand for proper LED lighting. If everyone was still happily using tungsten I doubt we'd have anywhere near the range of quality LED lighting we have today.