“If the feds wanted to hire me, I could lick this problem for the entire country,” Tom Corbett of the New York Department of Environmental Conservation quipped.  He asserted that additional laws addressing mercury are not necessary; the issue can be addressed by enforcing current laws using the pollution prevention angle.

Corbett addressed attendees the Mercury Rising workshop at the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries Inc. (ISRI) Annual Convention in Los Vegas. He was joined by Hugh Davis of the Waste Treatment branch of the EPA; Greg Cranford of the Steel Recycling Institute; and Dave Raney of American Honda Motor Cars. 

The issue affects the auto dismantling, scrap and steel industries when convenience lighting switches, which contain one to two grams of mercury, are shredded along with the auto bodies, resulting in mercury-tainted scrap. Although guidelines have been established for the removal of the switches, the collection infrastructure needs to be established and funding secured. As of the 2003 model year, no mercury switches will be used in convenience lighting.

Crawford said that the steel industry would stop using vehicle shred if mercury contamination persists. The mercury-tainted scrap is a particular problem for electric arc furnace steel mills, which use 100 percent recycled steel, he added.

Davis said the EPA “doesn’t want fifty states duplicating efforts,” and would like to help unify efforts. To that end, the EPA has opened up its mercury action plant to the states, Davis said. He added that the EPA is in favor of labeling mercury as a universal waste and offering safe harbor.

Raney expressed American Honda Motor Cars’ dismay at being lumped in with the rest of the auto industry. The company is not a member of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, but instead tries to focus on what Raney described as “win-win solutions when a regulation might be needed.”

Raney explained that while Honda did not use mercury switches in their cars, they do use mercury in high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps and backlit navigation panel displays. By 2004 Raney said he expects nearly 100 percent of Honda’s cars to use from .5 to 1 milligram of mercury in HID lamps. However, Honda is working toward a mercury-free car before the end of the decade, he said.

The mercury in HID lamps and displays are less of a concern to the panel because they represent much smaller amounts of mercury. The lamps and screens also are resalable commodities, whereas the switches are not.