What is Washington State Doing?
Washington State has taken a lead in protecting the health of its citizens and its environment.  Washington was the first state to target Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs), with mercury as its first priority, and has conducted one of the most successful elemental mercury removal programs in the country.  Other states have since used washington’s programs as a model for their own efforts.  Beyond mercury-removal programs and engaging in environmental education, the state of Washington has worked to improve public policy on mercury-related topics and continues to work on new ways to help schools, businesses, local governments, and the public reduce their use of mercury-containing products.  Below are Washington State initiatives that will help protect the health of people and the environment:

• Mercury Education and Reduction Act (MERA)

• Thermostat Recycling Grant Project

• Rehab the Lab

• Mercury Education and Reduction Plan

• Mercury Chemical Action Plan

• Washington State PBT Plan

• Ongoing Efforts

Mercury Education and Reduction Act (MERA)

In 2003, the Washington State Legislature passed the Mercury Education and Reduction Act (MERA) that mandates the proper disposal and recycling of many mercury-containing products.  Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is responsible for educating schools, businesses, local governments, and the public about how to reduce mercury contamination from products that contain mercury.  The MERA law establishes dates by which certain mercury-containing items will be eliminated or banned from sale in Washington State.  Washington joins several other states in banning mercury-containing items and requiring labels for other products.

MERA lays out the following dates of implementation:

Thermostat Recycling Grant Project

The Washington State Department of Health received a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a Thermostat Recycling Project in seven pilot counties throughout the state.  The grant focuses on collection of used mercury-containing thermostats in Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) and furnace businesses using collection bins provided by the Thermostat Recycling Corporation (TRC) as part of a mercury product stewardship program.  The bins are filled with thermostats and shipped to TRC, where the mercury is removed and recycled.  The bins are sent back to the businesses to be filled again. Shipping, handling, and the cost of removal of mercury are paid by TRC.

Participants in the Thermostat Recycling Grant (TRG) project include Snohomish, King, Pierce, Kitsap, Thurston, Spokane, and Walla Walla Counties, and the City of Tacoma.  Several HVAC businesses outside of the TRG project area also participate in thermostat recycling with TRC.  All together, over 50 HVAC wholesalers and contractor businesses in Washington State are currently working hard to keep mercury out of the environment by having TRC collection bins available for their staff and clients.  

            For more information on the Thermostat Recycling Project, or to learn how to become involved in the project, visit the Thermostat Recycling Project page. 

Rehab the Lab

Between 1998 and 2003 King County and the State of Washington conducted a statewide project to rid Washington schools of hazardous laboratory chemicals and outfit schools with safe chemical storage systems.  Through the “Rehab the Lab” project, officials visited approximately 350 schools in Washington State (more than 50% of all schools in the state), and removed between 100-200 pounds of elemental mercury and mercury compounds.  Washington is a national leader in the removal of mercury from school labs.  Its work has been replicated elsewhere and remains a gold standard in the field.  There has been a follow-up lab clean-out project in 2005, funded in part by the Department of Ecology in the Spokane area, coordinated by the local ESD and the Spokane Hazardous Waste Collection Facility. Counties that still have schools needing to follow through with the clean out could consider writing that into a CPG grant application to Ecology for funding.

MERA Education Plan 

The Washington State Department of Health developed the Mercury Education and Reduction Plan as a guide to provide information and education to businesses, local governments, schools, and the public.  The plan outlines how to educate these groups about the impacts of mercury.  The goal for the plan is to facilitate dissemination of the approaches, skills, tools, and resources throughout the state. 

The business education section of the plan recognizes the need for businesses, non-profit organizations, and health organizations in Washington to realize their importance in preventing the release of mercury into the environment.  The plan outlines how businesses can help reduce mercury releases by controlling initial purchases, choosing mercury-free or low mercury alternative products when possible, requiring that vendors “take back” products at the end of their life, recycling mercury-containing products properly, participating in a manufacturer “take back” program, and identifying an environmental steward within the business to make recommendations about mercury-containing products.

The schools section of the plan stresses the removal of elemental mercury from schools as well as educating faculty, staff, and students about the proper handling and disposal of mercury-containing items.  Prevention of mercury spills and other exposures is important in schools, especially in elementary schools, because young children are particularly vulnerable to the harmful effects of mercury.  The plan identifies that students and schools are a key channel of information to parents about issues relating to proper disposal of mercury.

The local government section of the plan states that all local governments will be impacted by mercury reduction legislation.  The need to educate local governments is important because they ensure that mercury is properly handled and must advise their citizens about proper disposal of mercury-containing items in their jurisdictions.

The public section of the plan recognizes the need for educating the rest of the general population which may not fall into other categories.  Educating the public will take many forms and many repeat messages to help them learn how to adequately handle and dispose of mercury-containing products. 

Mercury Chemical Action Plan

Under guidance from the 2002 Washington State Legislature, the Departments of Ecology and Health produced the Mercury Chemical Action Plan (MCAP).  The Plan describes elements of a campaign to virtually eliminate the use and release of human-caused mercury in Washington State.  Currently about 3,800 to 5,000 pounds of mercury are released into the state’s environment each year from human sources.  By focusing on better waste disposal, management, and recycling, mercury pollution can be greatly reduced.  The MCAP estimates that nearly one-ton of mercury pollution can be prevented from entering Washington’s environment each year by improving waste-separation and disposal methods in dentistry, schools, households, medical facilities, and others.  Actions being pursued through the MCAP include:

• Metals separators in dental offices.

• Safely disposing of mercury waste from products used in households and small businesses.

• Replacing medical equipment containing mercury and improving waste separation in hospitals.

• Providing state grants to local governments and non-profit organizations to strengthen and better publicize hazardous waste services and facilities.

Washington State PBT Plan

Washington State is the first state in the nation to target Persistent Bioaccumulative Toxins (PBTs), toxins that build up in food chain and the body and are not readily broken down or released from the body.  Washington’s PBT Plan, first proposed in 2000, calls for the continual replacement or elimination of PBTs by the year 2020.  The plan proposes phasing out the use of production and the release of chemicals classified as PBTs.  Mercury was the state’s first priority for action.  More information about the PBT Plan is available from the Washington Department of Ecology, including the full text of the proposed PBT Strategy.

Ongoing Efforts

• Mercury Education Card:  The Department of Health (DOH)  has developed a graphic card about mercury contamination for use with kids. 

• Mercury-Free Thermometers: DOH has developed a set of mercury-free thermometers, which can be requested.  They come in several formats, and in English and Spanish.  The distribution of these mercury-free thermometers is to help promote the proper disposal of mercury-containing thermometers at the local Household Hazardous Waste Facility.

• Mercury Disposal Stickers:  DOH has developed two stickers that focus on the proper disposal of mercury products, and the recognition of the Hg symbol.   These stickers can be requested in small numbers up to 100/request.