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PSI Thermostat Program

The Product Stewardship Institute is working with a multi-stakeholder group to implement product stewardship solutions for mercury switch thermostats. The goals of the PSI program are to educate heating and cooling contractors and homeowners about the need to responsibly manage mercury thermostats, expand the availability of current recycling locations, provide incentives that motivate contractors and homeowners to recycle, and increase the replacement rate of mercury thermostats with non-mercury alternatives. 

In 2004, PSI developed a Background Summary Report that highlighted the problems, key issues, and potential solutions to managing thermostats, and held two stakeholder meetings in July and October 2004. The multi-stakeholder group reached agreement on multiple priority projects/initiatives intended to increase the recycling of mercury thermostats and ban the sales of new mercury thermostats. PSI has worked with the Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) to expand the number of thermostat collection sites at heating and cooling contractor and wholesaler locations. They have expanded the TRC program to local household hazardous waste facilities nationwide. PSI has demonstrated through a pilot project that a financial incentive provided to contractors could increase the number of mercury thermostats collected and recycled. In addition, PSI mediated the nation’s first comprehensive thermostat legislation in Maine, assisted the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on its consumer and contractor collection programs, and began a thermostat mail back pilot project. PSI also developed a comprehensive model state thermostat program that provides a menu of options from which states can choose. The two major areas covered in the model are a ban on new sales of mercury thermostats and methods to increase the collection and recycling of existing mercury thermostats. Performance goals and incentives are key components to the model program.