Thermostat Recycling Corp. (TRC), Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, is expanding its contestant eligibility for its 2017 Big Man On Planet (BMOP) competition.

"Now in our sixth year, we're creating greater excitement by expanding the BMOP playing field," says Ryan Kiscaden, TRC's executive director. "For the first time ever, we're automatically enrolling all TRC HVAC wholesale distributors who are also members of HARDI (Heating, Air-conditioning and Refrigeration Distributors International)." 

TRC runs its annual BMOP competition in partnership with HARDI, Columbus, Ohio. Event organizers decided on the new protocol so more of their collection network could be recognized for their efforts in diverting mercury from the waste stream.

"By making every TRC/HARDI wholesale distributor eligible for the title, our previous champions are going to have to work extra hard to stay on top," says Kiscaden. 

Participants who signed up on their own before the June 30 deadline and have promoted the contest internally are now eligible for the new Most Motivated Collection Partner (or BMOP Rock Star) category.

"These stores go out of their way to motivate their employees by offering additional incentives," says Kiscaden. "Because of them we see an uptick in mercury thermostat collections that always coincide with the contest." 

Also new this year is the Best Smack Talk Video category. Participants challenge the competitors by producing their own video and sending it to TRC by Sept. 1. Videos must be under one minute, fun and in good taste. Submissions will be sent to TRC's entire contest distribution list and posted on social media. The wholesaler with the best video is announced at the HARDI Annual Conference in Vegas and receives a special prize.

"While BMOP makes things fun, the real point behind competition is to increase collections of mercury thermostats," says Kiscaden. "We believe these improvements to the competition will help us see greater numbers than ever before." 

To accommodate distributors of all sizes, three winning wholesalers will be determined as follows: the one that recycles the most pounds of mercury overall, the one that recycles the highest average pounds of mercury and the one with the highest branch participation rate (for distributors with more than 10 locations). Additionally, a $500 store incentive will be awarded to the top three branch locations that recycle the most.

Winners will be recognized at HARDI's annual conference, Dec. 2-5 in Las Vegas.

HARDI distributors may sign up to compete in all BMOP categories at www.thermostat-recycle.org/BMOP.