[greenyes] California bans the sale of most mercury thermostats

["Reindl, John" <Reindl@no.address>]

Governor Schwarzenegger has signed into law AB 1369 to prohibit the sale and
distribution of mercury thermostats beginning January 1, 2006 with
exceptions for those used (1) for manufacturing or industrial purposes and
(2) for blind or visually impaired people.
 
Previous California law bans the landfilling of mercury thermostats as of
the same date.
 
A web page with the bill and bill history is at
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_1369&sess=CUR&hou
se=B&author=pavley.
 
 A recent study estimated that in 2000,  4 million plus mercury thermostats
were sold in the US, containing approximately 15 metric tons of mercury. In
that same year, an estimated 9.1 million mercury thermostats were removed
from buildings, containing over 33 metric tons of mercury. In comparision,
the electric utilities emitted an estimated 48 metric tons of mercury to the
air from the combustion of coal. 

A list of wholesalers that accept mercury thermostats at no cost for
recycling under the industry paid-for Thermostat Recycling Corporation
program is on the Internet at
http://www.nema.org/DocUploads/F7219D9C-9C2E-435B-8156497BBA0A99FE//trc_whol
esalerlist.xls. 



John Reindl, Recycling Manager
Dane County, Wisconsin