Lancaster County Waste Authority, Covanta Lancaster, Inc. Offer A Mercury Bounty In April

Throughout April 2009, during regular customer hours, Lancaster County residents can deliver mercury thermostats and/or thermometers from their homes to the Resource Recovery Facility in Bainbridge or the Household Hazardous Waste Facility in Lancaster and receive a $5 gift card to Lowe’s and a digital thermometer.

 

Covanta Lancaster, Inc., the operator of the RRF, purchased the gift cards to encourage the proper handling and disposal of these mercury-containing devices. According to the U.S. Department of Energy installing a new programmable mercury-free digital thermostat can help cut a home’s energy cost by 15 percent. The Authority has been providing digital thermometers in exchange for mercury thermometers and thermostats for several years.

 

A mercury thermometer can be easily identified by the presence of a silver bulb. One exception to this is the new fever thermometers containing gallium, indium and tin that also contain a silver bulb but are clearly marked mercury-free. If the bulb is red, blue, purple, green or any other color, it is not a mercury thermometer.

 

Mercury is a heavy metal that represents a health threat when released into the environment. An average thermostat contains 4 grams of mercury and an average fever thermometer can contain between 0.5 to 3 grams of mercury. Most compact fluorescent bulbs contain only 0.005 grams of

mercury. It takes 800 compact fluorescent bulbs to equal the mercury in one thermostat.

 

From April 1 to April 30 mercury thermometers and thermostats will be accepted from residents at the RRF scalehouse from 6:30 am to 4 pm and on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Absolutely no other household hazardous waste material will be accepted at the RRF.

 

In addition to mercury thermometers and thermostats, the HHW regularly accepts elemental mercury, fluorescent bulbs (including compact bulbs), computers, televisions, cell phones, batteries, paints, cleaners and more.

 

Go to Lancaster Waste Authority website for a list of all the materials accepted at the HHW. The drive-through HHW facility is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m.