Mercury Thermostat Recycling Law Goes Into Effect

The Department of Environmental Protection this week announced the beginning of the mercury thermostat recycling program and steps consumers can take to implement that law.

 

The Mercury-Free Thermostat Law was passed in October in House Bill 44 (Rubley-R-Chester).

“This law is another means of protecting the health and welfare of our most vulnerable citizens – our children,” said Tom Fidler, the DEP’s deputy secretary for waste, air and radiation management. “Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that poses the greatest risk of nerve and brain damage to pregnant women, women of childbearing age, and young children.”

 

Mercury thermostats contain the largest amount of mercury found in ordinary household products. A single mercury thermostat contains between 3 and 5 grams of mercury.

 

According to estimates by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, each year about 6 to 8 tons of

mercury from discarded thermostats ends up in solid waste facilities and between 1 and 2 tons are released into the air.

 

Mercury can pose a long-term danger as it accumulates in the environment and remains active for up to 10,000 years. Waterways throughout Pennsylvania have been placed under fish consumption advisories due to high mercury contamination levels.

 

“Protecting our citizens and environment from mercury can be accomplished in partnership with industry,” Fidler said. “Gov. Rendell’s administration worked with thermostat manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers and installers, and the legislature to craft a cost-effective program that shares the responsibility for protecting the environment.”

 

The Mercury-Free Thermostat Law:

 

-- Bans the sale, installation and disposal of mercury thermostats effective December 8, 2009;

 

-- Mandates that thermostat manufacturers establish and maintain a collection and recycling program for out-of-service mercury thermostats;

 

-- Requires that wholesalers who sell thermostats must participate as a collection site for mercury thermostats, effective December 8, 2009;

 

-- Requires thermostat retailers or contractors to participate as a collection point or provide notice to customers that recycling of mercury thermostats is required under Pennsylvania law and identify locations of nearby collection points, effective December 8, 2009; and

 

-- Directs manufacturers and the DEP to provide education and outreach on the proper management of mercury thermostats and other products containing mercury, including maintaining a list of approved collection sites.

 

“The Mercury-Free Thermostat Law gives every citizen and every contractor convenient access to outlets for recycling of out-of-service mercury thermostats,” Fidler said. “They can drop off thermostats at retail and wholesale collection points in their communities virtually every day of the week.

 

“Retailers, such as The Hardware Center here in Paoli, will be key to this effort for homeowners who can now recycle their old thermostat when they go to purchase a mercury-free thermostat.”

 

Thermostat retailers are not required to meet their responsibilities under the law for another year, but a number of wholesalers statewide voluntarily already are providing collections to the public and to contractors through a program created by the Thermostat Recycling Corp.

 

The nonprofit group was founded in the late 1990s by three major thermostat manufacturers and has been operating successfully in Pennsylvania since 2000. Wholesalers may meet their obligations under the new state law by joining the existing program.

 

To find a participating wholesaler in your community, call the Thermostat Recycling Corp., toll-free, at 800-238-8192.