Mercury exemptions for various types of lamps in the EU RoHS Directive are expiring in batches. The amendment, which takes effect in February 2025, sets a clear exit timetable for compact fluorescent lamps, T5/T8 straight tube fluorescent lamps, and high-pressure sodium lamps. Once the exemption expires, the product loses its legal path to the EU market-not because it becomes unsafe, but because the basis for the exemption to allow it to contain mercury no longer exists.

For those responsible for outdoor lighting assets, this is a purchasing signal, not a chemistry lesson. High-pressure sodium lamp street lights and metal halide floodlights have long been the default options, and a large number of them are still in service. The alternative is not an "equal replacement": switching to LEDs will also change the light distribution, light color perception, and maintenance cycle.

There are two practical reminders. First, please consider the renovation as a lighting design project, rather than changing a bulb_the lamp pole spacing and installation height optimized according to the high pressure sodium lamp light distribution usually need to be re-calculated. Second, leave a deadline. If the selection is started now, the risk is not the price, but the availability of traditional light sources and supporting appliances.

The direction of supervision is one-way. The only outstanding issue is whether the project is actively scheduled for renovation or pushed away by the expiration date of the exemption.