Nonmetallics

The Thermostat Recycling Corp., Rosslyn, Va., has expanded its program to recycle used mercury-switch thermostats to include the entire continental United States. Under the program, the mercury is removed from the thermostats and the mercury recycled.

Under the voluntary, industry-sponsored effort, heating and cooling contractors can drop off old mercury-switch thermostats at participating wholesalers. Wholesalers then collect the thermostats in bins supplied by TRC and then send the materials to TRC’s recycling center where the switches are removed and forwarded to a mercury recycler.

County Gets Grant for Scrap Tires

The Bergen County Utilities Authority (BCUA), Little Ferry, N.J., has received a $158,905 grant from the Department of Environmental Protection for the kick-off of BCUA’s Tire Recycling Program. The program is aimed at reducing the number of scrap tires and combating the West Nile virus.

An East Rutherford site has been chosen as the first of several sites slated for cleanup. “This area is a prime example of how important the BCUA’s Tire Recycling Program is for the residents of Bergen County,” says Benedict A. Focarino, chairman of the BCUA. “This one site had more than 300 tires illegally dumped. We have several more locations throughout the county slated for [mosquito] spraying and then removal.”

Three collection sites will also be open for three days as part of the Tire Amnesty Programs throughout the county. Residents can dispose of up to four tires at no charge.

Recycler Targets Leaded

Cascade Asset Management, Milwaukee, Wisc., recently installed a glass to glass cathode ray tube (CRT) processing saw for recycling the leaded glass contained in monitors, televisions and terminals. CRTs can not be legally landfilled and because of its lead content, the glass must be disposed of through alternative methods.

Cascade sends the processed glass to Envirocycle, Hallstead, Pa., so it can be used in new CRTs.

More than 28 million computer systems were disposed of in the U.S. last year, and computer monitors contain between three to five pounds of lead. Cascade is expected to process at least 40,000 tubes.