Since 1998, the Thermostat Recycling Corp. (TRC) has worked to collect thermostats containing mercury and properly dispose of the harmful substance by using HVAC wholesalers as collection points for contractors. 

Thermostat Recycling Corp. (TRC) named the Rockford, Illinois, branch of Johnstone Supply the top mercury thermostat recycler of 2014.

Covanta Tulsa, Locke Supply, and the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) have partnered to provide a convenient way to recycle mercury-containing thermostats in Oklahoma. Residents and contractors will now be able to deliver old thermostats to any Locke Supply location for recycling free of charge.

With the success of the program, the two organizations have joined forces again to continue the free collection program in 2015.

US Ecology and the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Mercury Collection Project announced the collection and recycling of 665 pounds of mercury in 2014. This was a 210 percent increase over 2013.

A new law in Massachusetts requires any person or contractor who replaces a mercury-containing thermostat to deliver it to an appropriate collection site to be recycled. It also mandates that no HVAC wholesale distributor shall sell or distribute any thermostat unless the wholesaler participates as a collection site to recycle mercury thermostats.

What would you do with extra profit? This article explains how to upsell to homeowners the value that you provide as an expert in retrofitting homes that have products needing special disposal, such as refrigerant and mercury thermostats.