The IBO has recommended to the U.K.'s Department of Trade and Industry that pipe organs be excluded from the new directive.

A mechanical, hand-blown organ would be exempt, but if that same organ was fitted with any element of electrical control, as most are, it would be subject to the directive. A web site set up by the IBO to protest the law (pipes4organs.org) points out that "due to extreme longevity, organ pipes need never enter the landfill waste system and can always be recycled by organbuilders into more pipes."

Organ pipes have been made from tin/lead alloy, the properties of which contribute to the tone and voicing of the instrument, for centuries. Tin/lead alloy also has the structural strength to support its own weight for hundreds of years and has a vital role in the production of pipes.

Organ builders have experimented with other metals to replace lead, but have yet to come up with an alternative that would sustain the sound. In addition to preventing the production of future organs, the directive would also mean that a new method would have to be found to restore existing organs in Britain's cathedrals and churches.