Nationwide Mercury Thermostat Collection Program Started

The program expands an eight-month-long pilot project in which 50 municipal HHW facilities in five states safely recycled mercury thermostats from residents and their heating and cooling contractors at no charge.

 “Homeowners have historically had limited or inconvenient options to recycle their mercury thermostats outside of using a contractor,” says PSI executive director Scott Cassel. “This program provides residents with a safe way to recycle, and could save communities hundreds of thousands of dollars in mercury thermostat management costs.”

 Homeowners can contact HHW authorities for information about locations by visiting www.earth911.com.

Cassel says the challenge they faced in launching this project was to prove that it is safe to collect products containing mercury at local waste facilities. With the success of the project, he says it now enhances the infrastructure for collection of mercury thermostats nationwide.

TRC has collected more than 53,000 mercury-containing thermostats, , representing nearly 4, 9000 pounds of mercury, since its inception in 1998.

“We are delighted that this pilot’s mercury collection effort grew into a nationwide program for homeowners,” says Mark Kohorst, TRC’s executive director. “We expect the number of mercury thermostats collected by TRC to increase substantially in future years as a result of the pilot’s national expansion.”

Communities in Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Washington and Florida participated in the pilot, which began May 1, 2006 and ended Dec. 31, 2006. The 50 local programs, which operated 72 permanent facilities, 111 mobile facilities and 14 one-time events, collected and shipped more than 3,000 mercury added thermostats to TRC for recycling.

 “Now that this convenient program is available to homeowners nationwide, we look to residents of Washington to do their part and recycle the mercury thermostats they replace from their homes,” says Jay Manning, director of the Washington State Department of Ecology. “Through this partnership with local governments, we can ensure a healthier environment for the citizens of our state and region, and even those beyond.”