Seven Trade Associations Show Support for TRC by Signing a Coalition Letter Addressed to California

On May 19th, the Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) filed its Program Modification Plan for the Collection of Mercury-Containing Thermostats in California on behalf of 25, out of 31, thermostat manufacturers.

As the public comment period of the program modification plan (PMP) wound down, TRC reached out to trade associations aligned with its industry, asking them to sign onto a coalition letter to the department.

The letter’s intent was to urge CA’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) to approve the PMP without any amendments or delays. This would afford the opportunity for TRC to swiftly increase activities and focus on others that already yield high mercury thermostat returns.

The submitted PMP would:

• not require bounty payments to contractors for returned mercury thermostats, allowing TRC to continue offering varying solutions on bounties/incentives or no incentives at all 
• have TRC modestly increase outreach frequency to collection locations to return bins but does not become too burdensome.
• increase marketing efforts towards consumers and other audiences to encourage them to recycle
• fully keep in place the program’s components which are easy to administrate and drives results

Representatives from the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA), Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), Call2Recycle, Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI), National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA), Partnership for Air-Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration Accreditation (PAHRA), United Refrigeration joined forces to support TRC with this effort.

The letter was submitted to the department on June 5th.  Here is the submitted coalition letter in its entirety.