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Guide for Appliance Recyclers June 2004 What are the existing California regulations for major appliances that contain • mercury? Major appliances are not allowed to be disposed of in the regular garbage (municipal solid waste landfill). In 1997, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 847, Statutes 1997, chapter 884 (Stats. 1997, ch. 884), which requires that mercury switches be removed from discarded major appliances before they are crushed or shredded for recycling. In 2001, the California Legislature expanded the scope of the Universal Waste Rule by passing the California Mercury Reduction Act of 2001 through Senate Bill 633, (Stats. 2001, ch. 656). (Refer to the fact sheet, "SB 633: California's Mercury Reduction Act of 2001" on the Department of Toxic Substances Control's (DTSC) Web site, www.dtsc.ca.gov/Schools/EA_FS_SB633.pdf.) In March 2003, DTSC adopted the Mercury Waste Classification and Management regulations (MWCM), California Code of Regulations, title 22, section 66273.1 et seq. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 22, § 66273.1, et seq.). Under these regulations, mercury switches removed from major appliances are considered hazardous waste, but they may be managed as universal waste, which has simpler and less expensive handling requirements. (Refer to the fact sheet, "Managing Universal Waste in California" on DTSC's Web site, www.dtsc.ca-gov/PublicationsForms/HWM—FS_UWR.pdf.) What will the new MWCM regulations stipulate? • Beginning February 9, 2006, the new regulations will designate any discarded major appliance as a hazardous waste if it contains mercury switches. It will be considered a listed hazardous waste (California Hazardous Number M002). The new regulations also allow the products to be managed as universal waste. These requirements are further discussed in the section of this manual titled, "HANDLING AND RECYCLING MERCURY SWITCHES,"and in more detail in the fact sheet, "Managing Universal Waste in California," noted above. Who is affected by the new regulations? Scrap metal recyclers who accept discarded major appliances are affected by the new regulations because they are usually the last facilities to handle the appliances before they are crushed and shredded. Scrap metal recyclers are, therefore, required by law, per Public Resources Code, section 42175, to remove switches from any major appliances that require special handling prior to the appliances being crushed for transporting or transferring to a baler or shredder for recycling. Additionally, any facility that currently removes or handles mercury switches is allowed to manage these switches as universal waste. 6