Thermostat Recycling Corp.’s Mercury-Containing Thermostat Collection Down 35%

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Thermostat Recycling Corp. (TRC) collected 35% less pounds of mercury from thermostats in 2020, when compared with its efforts in 2019. It collected 892 pounds of mercury in 2020, compared with 1,370 pounds in 2019. There were 85,351 mercury thermostat unit collected and recycled in 2020 compared with 134,022 in 2019, a decline of 36%.

“The coronavirus pandemic greatly affected our collection efforts last year,” said Danielle Myers, operations & compliance manager, TRC. “While we have worked vigorously at recycling mercury-containing thermostats, the coronavirus pandemic accentuated this dramatic decrease.”

TRC’s top 10 recycling partners by pounds of mercury are:

The top three states in the United States for recycling the thermostats are California, Illinois and Pennsylvania.

The collection numbers reached a peak in 2014 with 203,346 units. “TRC, like most companies and organizations, felt the overwhelming impact of this unprecedented pandemic,” Myers said. “Yet when the opportunity presented itself, our partners continued to maintain a commitment to ensuring that they safely recycled mercury-containing thermostats. Despite the additional concerns they faced, they never flinched during this coronavirus pandemic.”

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com