"Ecology Center Campaign Spurs National Agreement on Auto Mercury Switches"
May/June Issue, 2006
In early March, the Ecology Center and Environmental Defense signed an agreement in principle with representatives from the automobile and auto recycling industries, various state governments, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to create the National Mercury Switch Recovery Program (NMSRP). The parties agreed on elements of a national program for recovering up to 80 tons of mercury switches from scrapped automobiles, most of which now ends up in our air when auto scrap is remelted in steel recycling plants. While many details remain to be worked out, the Ecology Center is hopeful that a final agreement can be reached in the coming months.
Auto switches from pre-2003 automobiles represent the largest manufacturing source of mercury, surpassed only by coal-fired power plants and municipal incinerators.
Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin that at even low levels can impair infant and child development and may harm cardiovascular and immune systems of adults. Mercury pollution threatens wildlife and builds up in game fish that people consume. Auto switches from pre-2003 automobiles represent the largest manufacturing source of mercury, surpassed only by coal-fired power plants and municipal incinerators.
Historically, mercury switches were used in autos for convenience lights (under the hood or in the trunk) and in anti-lock braking systems. Automakers have phased out the use of these mercury switches in new vehicles. When retired vehicles are recycled, however, the mercury from unrecovered switches can be released to the environment. The goal of the NMSRP is to significantly reduce air emissions of mercury from steelmaking facilities that utilize auto shred by substantially reducing the number of mercury-containing switches in scrap automobiles before they are crushed and shredded for recycling.
The national program will include a commitment by automakers to provide information regarding switch removal and to take responsibility for collection, transportation, and recycling of the switches. Auto dismantlers and others who recover switches will submit them to the program for proper management. Steelmakers and those who produce steel scrap for steelmaking use will promote participation in the program and also act to ensure mercury switches are removed. And automakers and steelmakers will create a three-year, $4 million fund in support of implementation of the program and for incentives for parti-cipation to those removing switches.
The Ecology Center helped call national attention to this issue more than five years ago with the release of the report, Toxics in Vehicles: Mercury. In 2002, we formed the Partnership for Mercury-Free Vehicles, a coalition with the steel and auto recycling industries, to advance a common platform that advocated for automaker responsibility in addressing the problem. In 2003, Maine passed the first comprehensive law in the country that required automakers to pay for switch collection. The legislation also included incentives for auto dismantlers to participate in the program. In the last two years, several other states have followed suit with similar legislation (N.J., Ark., Ill., Iowa, R.I., and N.C.) or have created their own voluntary programs to address the problem (Mich., Wis., Pa., Colo., Ore., and Minn.). Additional states have been pursuing legislation this year as well. The leadership of these state efforts has been critical to reaching the tentative national agreement.
L I N K S
To find out more about the many ways the Ecology Center is working to promote greener and cleaner vehicles, visit
www.ecocenter.org/cleancar/introduction.php
GM hood light switch photo above by Tom Corbett, NY Department of Environmental Conservation
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