Thermostat Recycling A Success: 60,000 Units Recovered So Far

By Consulting Specifying Engineer Staff November 7, 2006

The Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC), Rosslyn, Va., announced in September that to date, it had recovered more than 60,000 thermostats containing over 575 lbs. of mercury between January and June of 2006. This represents an increase of 10,000 thermostats and 115 lbs. of mercury over the first half of 2005. At this rate, TRC anticipates an annual increase of 37% in thermostat collections, as well as a 40% increase in the amount of mercury collected for 2006. Since its inception in January 1998, the program has collected over 429,000 mercury-switch thermostats and removed more than 3,900 lbs. of mercury from the nation’s waste stream.

TRC is a private corporation established by thermostat manufacturers Honeywell, General Electric and White Rodgers. It is a voluntary, industry-sponsored program that provides a mechanism for the proper disposal of mercury switch thermostats, regardless of brand. In fact, more than 1,100 wholesale suppliers of thermostats participate in the TRC program. A full list of participating wholesalers as of September 2006, is provided at www.nema.org/trc .