Mercury
Auto Switch | | | |
In 2004, Clean Air Council signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the steel industry, mercury recyclers, auto dismantlers and others that established the state’s first bounty program for removing mercury-containing conveniences switches from retired automobiles. This landmark agreement made Pennsylvania one of the first states to address mercury in auto switches. At the time of the agreement, mercury from such switches, released when automobiles are crushed and melted for scrap metal, was the second largest source of airborne mercury emissions in the Commonwealth.
Mercury switches contain 1 gram of mercury - enough to contaminate a 20-acre lake . |
On August 11, 2006, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and an almost identical collection of groups to the one that signed the Pennsylvania Memorandum announced a national deal, the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, whereby the steel and auto industries agreed to pay $2 million each to remove mercury-containing light switches from millions of scrap yard-bound vehicles. According to the U.S. EPA, the agreement will reduce U.S. annual mercury pollution by at least 5 percent over the next 15 years.
As of August 2007, more than 100 facilities in Pennsylvania were participating in the NVMSRP. They have collected more than 18,000 switches containing more than 41 pounds of mercury since 2005. Nationally, more than 5,700 facilities participate and more than 1,300 pounds of mercury have been recovered. Detailed statistics on the program can be found here. Clean Air Council is actively working to increase the participation rate in Pennsylvania by writing letters and telephoning scrap yards and other facilities to encourage participation. This summer, the Council contacted more than 400 yards, which led to the collection of more than 2,100 switches and several new enrollments.
But the news is not all bright. The mercury collected through the proposed deal can be recycled, refined, and sold to loosely regulated industries in developing countries. And, as in any other program, the devil is in the details. Follow Clean Air Council as it moves forward, once again, as the only Pennsylvania environmental group addressing auto switch mercury, working with its partners in the steel and scrap industry to ensure that the new national program is implemented effectively and to the benefit of all Pennsylvanians.
Facilities can sign up for the program here.
Mercury Auto Switches 
