Ohio Auto Recyclers Remove Mercury from Scrap Vehicles
Automobile recyclers all over the state of Ohio are taking part in a joint venture with the United States Environmental Protection Agency to recover up to 90 percent of the mercury switches contained in automobiles by the year 2017.
This program is known as the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, NVMSRP for short. On August 11, 2006 the Environmental Protection Agency announced it would launch the program that is designed to recover an estimated 40 million mercury containing light switches from scrap vehicles that are melted down to make new steel. The program is an effort to reduce the amount of mercury released from furnaces that routinely handle steel from salvage vehicles. At that time, these furnaces ranked fourth in leading the country in mercury emissions. Mercury emitted from the stacks of these furnaces quickly finds its way into groundwater, streams, lakes and air where it enters the food chain mainly through fish, which are then consumed by humans. Exposure to mercury can cause effects, which develop gradually. It may cause shaking of the hands, eyelids, lips, tongue, or jaw. It may cause headaches, trouble sleeping, personality change, memory loss, irritability, indecisiveness and loss of intelligence. It can also cause skin rash, sores in the mouth, or sore and swollen gums. Small children and pregnant women are a particular risk to the effects of mercury poisoning.
Up until 2003, mercury was used in the switches of convenience lights found in a vehicle’s trunk and under the hood. If these mercury switches are not removed before the vehicle is crushed for recycling, then the mercury contained in these switches are released into the atmosphere when the steel is melted down.
The mercury-containing portion of the switch is quite small (about the size of a small bullet) and can be easily overlooked. In order to provide incentive to automobile recyclers, the United States Environmental Protection Agency has teamed up with End of Life Vehicle Solutions to provide supplies and monetary compensation for removal of these switches. Working with Ohio Auto & Truck Recyclers Association, most of the 800 automotive recyclers around the state are participating in the collection of switches.
Facilities that participate in the program qualify for monetary and regulatory incentives. They are paid for each switch that they collect and turn in for processing. OATRA assists facilities in complying with the program by acting as a liaison between auto recyclers, ELVs and the Environmental Protection Agency.
This program will continue through 2017 when it has been estimated that most automobiles that were produced with these mercury switches will be leaving service. There is four million dollar fund to assist with the payment of incentives to auto recyclers. In addition, ELVs provides participating facilities with the following items free of charge: collection buckets, instructions from the manufacturers for locating and removing the switches from the automobiles they process and instructions on returning filled buckets for processing. When the bucket is filled, auto recyclers also do not bear the cost of sending it to an approved facility.
