Oct. 24 is Recycle Your Mercury Thermostat Day
TRC Urges Consumers & Contractors to Safely Recycle Mercury Containing Thermostats
New York — Thermostat Recycling Corp. (TRC) urges consumers to examine their thermostats and recycle them if their unit contains mercury. Mercury was a component in millions of thermostats until the industry discontinued the practice. U.S. manufacturers stopped making them between 2004 and 2007, but it is a safe assumption that a few remain in aging homes.
Mercury is a well-known hazard both to personal health and the environment. TRC has led the way in promoting the removal and safe recycling of mercury-containing thermostats for more than 20 years.
“We have recycled millions of mercury-containing thermostats, and while many mercury thermostats have already been replaced, consumers continue to buy programmable or ‘smart’ thermostats and upgrade their outdated ones,” said Danielle Myers, operations and compliance manager, TRC.
“We use our network of contractors to remove these thermostats, which they then deposit with their local HVACR wholesaler, usually in a well-recognized green bin,” Myers said. Wholesalers send the thermostats to a TRC processing facility. Experts dismantle and recycle the units, then remove the mercury for safe storage. Mercury is an element and cannot be destroyed.”
TRC created Recycle Your Thermostat Day, Oct. 24, in 2018 as part of its marketing efforts and submitted it to Chase’s Calendar of Events, the unofficial guide to unique days of the year.
Chase’s Calendar of Events is an annual “bible” of special days and events that commemorates special holidays, special events, and more untraditional celebratory days and events.
“We created and launched Recycle Your Mercury Thermostat Day to draw attention to our mission of safely recycling mercury-containing thermostats,” Myers said. “Now that we’ve established this special day, our contractor partners can share in our promotional efforts by raising consumer awareness, while helping to safeguard the environment.”
TRC, founded in 1998, is an industry-funded nonprofit corporation supported by 30 manufacturers that historically branded and sold mercury thermostats in the United States. TRC maintains a network of more than 3,600 collection sites nationwide and has recovered more than 2.5 million thermostats, containing 12 tons of mercury, since its inception. TRC assumes all costs to transport and properly dispose of mercury switch thermostats recovered from service. Learn more about TRC at trcprod.wpengine.com.