The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has a voluntary program, using End of Life Vehicle Solutions, that helps auto salvage facilities remove convenience switches from vehicles before they are shredded for recycling.

• About Mercury Convenience Switches
• The Mercury Convenience Switch Recovery Program
• Qualifying for Incentives

About Mercury Convenience Switches

Until they were phased out in model 2003 vehicles, many American automobiles used switches that included mercury. These switches most often were used for the convenience lights found in the vehicle's trunk and under the hood.

If these mercury-containing switches are not removed from scrap vehicles, the mercury they contain can be emitted into the atmosphere when the vehicle is recycled.

In December 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued new air-emission standards to reduce mercury releases by steel manufacturers that use electric arc furnaces. It requires these facilities to buy motor-vehicle scrap from providers participating in an EPA-approved, mercury-switch removal program. Read more about the EPA's National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program.

See a list of vehicles containing these switches (PDF) (Help with PDF.)

The Mercury Convenience Switch Recovery Program

In the TCEQ program, auto salvage facilities will not have to pay any of the costs associated with storing, shipping, and processing the mercury convenience switches they remove from the vehicles they process.

Participating facilities will receive the following items free of charge:

• collection buckets; submit a request (PDF) (Help with PDF)
• instructions from the manufacturers (PDF) for locating and removing the switches from the automobiles they process, and
• instructions on returning filled buckets for processing.

Once the bucket is full, End of Life Vehicle Solutions will pay for the bucket to be mailed to an approved processing facility where the mercury will be recycled.

Any auto salvage facility interested in participating in this program can call 1-877-225-ELVS, or send e-mail to End of Life Vehicle Solutions (info@elvsolutions.org) to receive a free switch-collection bucket, and other resources and materials.

End of Life Vehicle Solutions also provides information about collecting mercury convenience switches on its Web site.

Qualifying for Incentives

Facilities participating in this important program can qualify for monetary and regulatory incentives. Facilities will be paid $1 for each mercury convenience switch that is received for processing. To receive regulatory incentives, facilities must submit an annual report to the TCEQ by November 15 of each year. The annual report must provide information regarding:

• the number of switches removed from vehicles processed at their facilities, and
• the number of eligible vehicles processed by their facility.

Download the Annual Reporting Form (PDF) required to submit the annual report.