COLUMBUS, Ohio - Members of Heating, Airconditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) in Connecticut are stepping up efforts to collect mercury thermostats through a partnership with the Product Stewardship Institute. The goal is to collect more than 500 mercury thermostats in the Bridgeport, Conn., area this heating season. HARDI members in Bridgeport and surrounding communities are putting mercury thermostat collection bins in their stores and encouraging contractors to use them to recycle every mercury thermostat they remove.

The following Connecticut HARDI members have taken a leadership role on mercury thermostat collections: New England Heating Supply, Bridgeport; R.E. Michael Co., Stratford; Shelton Winair Co., Shelton; Sid Harvey’s, Stratford; Torrington Supply Co, Stratford; and Johnstone Supply, Milford.

Bridgeport has been selected for this national pilot program to demonstrate how best to boost collections of out-of-service thermostats that contain mercury. HARDI members have long supported mercury thermostat collection efforts through the manufacturer-funded Thermostat Recycling Corp. in which HVAC distributors act as collection points for waste thermostats for no-cost shipping and recycling. Many members have bins in their stores already. The project is reaching out to every HARDI member in the Bridgeport area to engage them in this program.

For more information, visit www.hardinet.org.

Publication date: 02/08/2010