Mercury Auto-Switch Recycling Program

There are still cars out there with mercury switches. You can help protect Maine’s environment by recycling switches. In Maine, automobile companies pay for the collection and recycling of mercury switches. Sign up with the ELVS program to receive a free collection bucket and $4 for each switch you collect.

Why recycle mercury auto-switches?

Even small amounts of mercury are dangerous in the environment. Mercury has been found in bass, perch, pickerel, trout, salmon and eels. For this reason, Maine CDC advised women and children to limit the amount of fish they eat! Eagles, loons and otters all suffer from mercury poisoning. Crushing cars without removing mercury switches puts a significant amount of mercury into the environment. To prevent more mercury pollution, Maine law requires that all mercury switches be removed before a car is flattened, crushed, or baled.

Sign up for the free recycling program

Call Maine DEP at 287-8556, or visit ELVS Solutions, click the Program Enrollment tab near the top right corner, and fill out the form with your business contact information and address. NOTE: If your mailing address is different from your shipping address, you need to include both on the form and clearly label each.

Once you have signed up, ELVS sends you:

• a bucket for collecting and storing switches,
• information on where switches are located in different vehicles and how to remove them, and
• a pre-paid shipping label to use when it’s time to send the bucket back.

ELVS pays you $4 for each switch if you write down the year, make, and model of the vehicle when you remove a switch, and return this log with your switches.