How It Works
- Remove switches (below) from automobiles.
- Report removal on a Department of Motor Vehicle form.
- Collect complete switch assemblies or ampoules (also called bullets or pellets) in the appropriate container (below).
- Immediately clean up any mercury spill/release residues and contaminated materials, and place them in an appropriate hazardous waste container.
Program of the Month
Removing Mercury Switches
Removing mercury from demolished vehicles and ultimately keeping it out of the environment is the goal of DEQ’s Mercury Switch Program.
“It is a low-cost effort for steel recyclers and auto demolishers with great benefits for the environment,” Steve Frazier, program coordinator, said. “It is a source reduction effort to remove a potential contaminant prior to recycling.”
After salvage yards dismantle automobiles, the scrap is melted and made into new steel. If mercury-activated light switches are not removed from the vehicles, mercury is emitted into the air during the smelting process.
Automobile manufacturers pay for the switch recovery and mercury recycling through the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program. The program is managed by End of Life Vehicle Solutions Corporation, or ELVS, a vehicle manufacturer coalition created to support this effort. The corporation pays the dismantler $1 for every switch that is collected.
The Virginia General Assembly passed legislation in 2006 requiring removal of the switches from demolished automobiles. The regulation that determines how the program will operate takes effect in March 2007. However, DEQ has been working with the Virginia Automobile Recyclers Association and steel recyclers to remove the switches since 2006.
“We already have 220 demolishers signed up and have collected over 1,100 switches for about 2 1/2 pounds of mercury, even before the regulations become effective,” Frazier said. “This is a great cooperative effort, and credit goes to all parties for making this work.”
Most vehicles made before model year 2003 contain two light switches, commonly found under the hoods or trunks of automobiles. The switches turn on the convenience light when a hood or trunk reaches a certain angle as it is opened. Each switch contains about one gram of mercury.
Some newer model vehicles also have anti-lock braking systems that contain two additional switches. Even though it is not required, ELVS will also pay the demolishers for removing the anti-lock brake switches.
There are about 6.5 million vehicles in Virginia that could be demolished throughout the life of the program, meaning the vehicles are already at auto recycler facilities or will be retired from use during the next 10 years. The program has the potential to remove as much as 800 pounds of mercury per year.
ELVS supplies participating demolishers with storage containers that hold about 300 switches each. A demolisher removes the switches, places them in the container and reports the removal on a Virginia Department of Motor Vehicle form that also cancels the vehicle title. Once the container is full, it is shipped for free to Environmental Quality, a mercury recycling company in Michigan on contract with ELVS. EQ counts the switches, removes the mercury encasing or bullet, and then recovers the mercury as a commodity.
About 30 other states have joined with ELVS, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency also has endorsed the national program. EPA estimates that the national program could reduce mercury emissions by 75 tons over the next 15 years.
More information on mercury reduction efforts is available on the DEQ website.