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Guide for Appliance Recyclers <br />June 2004 <br />• Pack the removed switches with packing materials, such as bubble wrap, to <br />prevent breakage or leakage during storage, handling, and transportation. <br />• The container should be labeled with the words, "Universal Waste — Mercury <br />Switches," "Waste Mercury Switches" or "Used Mercury Switches." <br />• Store the containers in a designated accumulation area of your facility where <br />they are unlikely to be disturbed. <br />• Do not dispose of removed switches with non -hazardous waste! <br />Are removed mercury switches considered hazardous waste or universal waste? <br />Once removed, mercury switches may be managed as either hazardous waste or <br />universal waste. You should contact your current hazardous waste contractor (those <br />used for hauling CFCs or waste oil, for example) to ask whether they will accept the <br />mercury switches. Alternatively, removed mercury switches may be managed under the <br />simpler and less expensive Universal Waste Regulations that allow certain widely <br />generated wastes to be managed under reduced handling and transport requirements. <br />Allowing mercury switches to be handled as universal waste is intended to encourage <br />increased recycling of switches. A complete description of universal and hazardous <br />waste requirements is provided in Appendices C and D, or you can refer to the fact <br />sheet, "Managing Universal Waste in California" on DTSC's Web site, <br />www.dtsc.ca.gov/PublicationsForms/HWM_FS_UWR.pdf to learn more about how to <br />manage universal waste. <br />How long can I keep mercury switches at my facility after removing them? <br />If your facility handles mercury switches as a universal waste, you may keep removed <br />mercury switches in a designated accumulation area at your facility for up to one year. <br />Thereafter, you may send them off site for recycling. If handled as hazardous waste, <br />mercury switches may be kept on site for 90 to 270 days, depending on the total <br />amount of hazardous waste you generate per month. See Appendices C and D for <br />more information. <br />Is a hazardous waste manifest required for transporting mercury switches? <br />Transporting mercury switches as a universal waste does not require a hazardous <br />waste manifest if the package of mercury switches does not exceed one pound. <br />(Approximately 450 mercury switches contain one pound of mercury.) For ground <br />shipping, the switches may be carried by a universal waste transporter under a bill of <br />lading. The mercury switches, however, must be securely packaged to prevent <br />breakage during transport. Some carriers may have company -specific packaging <br />protocols to meet these requirements. <br />99 <br />