The end of fluorescent: what the global phase-out means for your project

Fluorescent lamps contain mercury, and that is why they are disappearing. In November 2023, the parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury agreed to phase out the manufacture, import and export of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) by the end of 2025, and of linear fluorescent tubes — the familiar T5 and T8 — by the end of 2027. The European Union had already ended most of these lamps in 2023.

For building owners, the practical effect is simple: replacement tubes will become harder to find and more expensive, and fittings designed around them will reach the end of their useful life. Projects being designed or refurbished now should assume an all-LED future.

Retrofit tube or new luminaire?

LED replacement tubes are a quick fix, but they keep the old optics, old housings and often the old control limitations. Where ceilings are being opened anyway, a new LED luminaire usually wins: better glare control, longer life, true dimming, and a lower lighting power density.

What we recommend

• Survey existing fluorescent stock early, before replacement lamps run short.
• Prioritise spaces with long operating hours — the energy payback is fastest there.
• Use the change to add controls: occupancy sensing, daylight dimming and scenes.
• Specify colour quality and glare limits, not just wattage — an LED upgrade should look better, not only cost less.

A transition forced by regulation is also an opportunity: the same budget that buys replacement lamps can buy a lighting scheme designed for how the space is used today.