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NPEP Success Story: Certified Automotive Recycler (CAR) Program
The Certified Automotive Recycler (CAR) Program Gives Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery a Boost.
The Automotive Recyclers Association’s (ARA) Certified Automotive Recycler(CAR) program has successfully met a significant goal by removing toxic mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles. Eighty-two members of the CAR program have removed 77,000 mercury switches, 170 pounds of mercury, during the past year, in order to prevent mercury pollution when end-of-life vehicles are crushed, shredded, and melted to make new steel.
Established in 1994, ARA’s CAR program set standards for environmental safety and general business practices and provided guidance for member facilities on how to adhere to these standards. The CAR program is a cornerstone of ARA because participating facilities are committed to go the extra mile to provide quality service and parts for the professional automotive recycling industry. The CAR program is a partner with EPA’s National Partnership for Environmental Priorities (NPEP) program and its members also participate in the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program (NVMSRP).
Members of the CAR program are required to recover all available mercury switches from end-of-life vehicles. These switches are collected and sent, at no cost to the automotive recycler, to the End of Life Vehicles Solutions (ELVS) Corporation that was established by the automobile industry. ELVS provides the infrastructure of the NVMSRP for submitting switches, having them counted, sending them to be environmentally recycled, and paying incentives to automotive recyclers
Background
Since mercury is liquid at room temperature, some car manufacturers used them to activate hood and trunk lights. However, because of safety concerns, automobile manufacturers phased out the use of mercury switches in 2002, in favor of mechanical ones.
The NVMSRP was created in 2006 through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) among the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); auto and steel manufacturers, vehicle dismantlers and shredders, states, and the environmental community. The MOU created a shared responsibility to collect and recycle mercury-containing light switches and ABS brakes from end-of-life vehicles. The NVMSRP is currently scheduled to end in 2017 when all available mercury switches are expected to have been recovered.
The ELVS corporation has primary responsibility for providing, free of charge, educational materials; collection buckets and information; transportation, recycling and record keeping. The NVMSRP initially provided monetary incentives of $1.00 per each recovered switch from an incentive fund of $4 million, which was provided in equal amounts of $2 million from the automobile and steel manufacturers. In mid-2008, the NVMSRP increased incentive payment to $4 for each convenience light switch and $6.00 for each ABS that contains mercury switches. These increases are reflected in increased switch recovery in 2008. If the $4 million incentive fund is depleted due to the increased amount of payment per switch, the NVMSRP will continue and participating facilities can continue to receive collection buckets and shipping free of charge from the ELVS corporation.
By making mercury switch recovery a condition of participating in the CAR program, ARA ensured that its members would recover mercury switches not just for the monetary incentive, but for the environmental benefit. This is an ongoing effort on the part of ARA to protect the environment from toxic mercury that was used in switches until the 2003 model year in some automobiles. The mercury switches were used in convenience lighting under the hood and in the trunk, and in some anti-lock braking systems. The goal of ARA and its CAR program is to recover all available mercury switches and manage them in an environmentally-friendly manner.
The numbers prove that ARA’s CAR program is successful. To date, the total number of switches recovered under the NVMSRP is 2.3 million; 77,000 of which came from CAR program members. The NVMSRP has 7,601 participating recyclers, 82 of which are CAR program members. ARA is proud of these achievements and looks forward to meeting future mercury switch recovery goals.