Thermostat Recycling Corporation Collections Continued to Grow in 2005


Rosslyn, Va., January 2006"oThe Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) today announced that it recovered close to 88,000 thermostats containing more than 819 pounds of mercury in 2005. These are increases of 10 percent and 12 percent, respectively, of the quantity of thermostats and amount of mercury recovered in 2004. Since its inception in January 1998, the TRC has now recycled nearly 420,000 mercury switch thermostats and removed more than 3,800 pounds of mercury from the nation¡¦s waste stream. Collections were highest in Florida, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Ohio.

The TRC is a private corporation established by the nation¡¦s largest thermostat manufacturers, Honeywell, White Rodgers, and General Electric. It is a voluntary, industry-sponsored program that provides a mechanism for the proper disposal of mercury switch thermostats, regardless of brand. The program began operating in nine states (Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, and Wisconsin) in 1998, but by 2001 was active in the remaining lower 48 states as well. More than 1,300 heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) wholesalers participate in the TRC (a full list of participating wholesalers is available at http://www.nema.org/trc).

Recently, the TRC expanded to encompass HVAC contractors as well, provided they have at least seven contractors or technicians in the firm or are located in a rural county. Since this expansion was announced last year, 155 independent contractors have signed up for the program.

For a one-time fee of $15, each participating wholesaler and contractor receives a protective plastic bin to store end-of-life thermostats as they are removed during demolition and remodeling. When the bins are full, participants ship them free of charge to the TRC¡¦s recovery center, where industry personnel remove the switches and forward them to a mercury recycling facility.

The TRC focuses on HVAC wholesalers and contractors because they sell and install the majority of thermostats, and the industry already has the infrastructure to support an effective collection program. Some local governments have separate programs in place to manage recycling or disposal of used thermostats directly from homeowners, who can contact their local hazardous waste management officials for more information on these local programs.

Meanwhile, the TRC is collaborating with the Product Stewardship Institute (PSI) in 2006 to conduct pilot projects in two states, Oregon and Indiana, to evaluate the impact of providing a financial incentive to contractors to recycle mercury thermostats. Contractors who return a thermostat for recycling and purchase a new, EPA Energy Star-approved thermostat will receive a rebate coupon redeemable for $3 in Indiana and $4 in Oregon. Funding is being provided by U.S. EPA Region V, Portland General Electric Co, and the TRC.

For information about the TRC, contact Mark Kohorst, executive director, at (703) 841-3249 or mar_kohorst@nema.org, or visit the TRC website at http://www.nema.org/trc.

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