ARLINGTON, Va. — Thermostat Recycling Corp. (TRC) released its 2011/2012 progress report, showing that it has recovered nearly 6 tons of mercury since it began national operations in 2002. TRC, an industry-funded, non-profit organization committed to recovering and properly disposing of as many mercury thermostats as possible, has established a successful and voluntary nationwide recycling program. The program exists despite the fact that the majority of states do not have mercury thermostat disposal bans in place.
“In 2011, TRC recovered nearly one ton of mercury, bringing our total recovery amount since 2002 to almost 6 tons,” said Mark Tibbetts, executive director, TRC. “If the thermostats we collected in 2011 were stacked, their height would surpass the summit of Mount Everest. While there is still much work to be done, we are proud that our efforts, and those of the HVAC industry, have kept thousands of pounds of mercury from the nation’s landfills.”