Oct. 24 is Recycle Your Mercury Thermostat Day

Thermostat Recycling Corp. urges consumers to examine their thermostats and recycle them if their unit contains mercury on Monday, Oct. 24, Recycle Your Mercury Thermostat Day.

Mercury was a component in thermostats until the industry discontinued the practice. U.S. manufacturers stopped making them between 2004 and 2007, but it is a reasonable assumption that some units remain in aging homes.

Mercury is a well-known hazard both to personal health and the environment. TRC has been at the forefront of promoting the removal and safe recycling of mercury-containing thermostats for more than 22 years.

An essential component of the corporation’s mission has been its collection locations, which include wholesalers, retailers and household hazardous waste facilities that collect the units in containers supplied by TRC. The locations send the thermostats to a TRC processing facility, where experts dismantle the units and remove the mercury for retort and safe storage. Mercury is an element and cannot be destroyed.

TRC created Recycle Your Mercury Thermostat Day in 2018 as part of its marketing and public relations efforts to highlight the need to collect and safely recycle these units.

Consumers or contractors can find their nearest recycling location by keying in their ZIP code at www.thermostat-recycle.org.