Mercury-free Colorado Campaign
Mercury Thermostat Recycling Program

The thermostat recycling program has been expanded!  Certain HVAC contractors and household hazardous waste collection programs are now eligible to obtain their own recycling containers.

To become a collection point, visit http://www.nema.org/gov/ehs/trc/.

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment strongly encourages heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) wholesalers, distributors, installation contractors and household hazardous waste collection programs to participate in the Thermostat Recycling Corporation's thermostat recycling program for all brands of wall-mounted mercury thermostats removed from service.  The program is designed to provide a convenient and inexpensive way for you to recycle mercury thermostats.  Participating facilities are encouraged to accept mercury thermostats from homeowners and other entities that wish to recycle mercury thermostats.

The Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) was established by Honeywell, White-Rodgers and General Electric to recycle mercury-containing thermostats.  It now represents 30 manufacturers.  TRC is a reverse distribution system where thermostats are collected after they have been removed from service and are put into the special collection containers located at participating facilities for recycling.  When the collection container is full, the participating facility returns the container to the Thermostat Recycling Corporation in exchange for a new container.  The mercury switches are removed from the returned thermostats and sent to a company that purifies the mercury for reuse.  After a nominal fee for the initial collection container, the Thermostat Recycling Corporation pays all costs for shipping and recycling of the collected mercury thermostats.  

Search for a participating recycling partner at http://www.thermostat-recycle.org/search.php .

Questions or comments 

If you have any questions or comments on alternatives to mercury or would like more information on the Mercury-free Colorado Campaign, please contact us at cdphe.hmmercury@state.co.us.