WA’s Mercury Lamp Stewardship Law:
spotlight on product stewardship
financing mechanisms
Margaret Shield, PhD, Policy Liaison
Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County
Today’s Session
Part 1 – WA’s Mercury-containing Lights Stewardship Law
Speaker Panel:
 Margaret Shield, LHWMP
 Kara Steward, WA State Department of Ecology
 Mark Kohorst, National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA)
 Mike O’Donnell, LightRecycle Washington
 Mark Kurschner, Product Care
Part 2 - Discussion on Stewardship Financing Mechanisms
Similarities, differences, and implications of cost internalization,
assessments/charges added to product price, and point-of-sale fees.
Facilitator: Julie Poust
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MERCURY LAMPS STEWARDSHIP
More than 12 million mercury
lamps sold to WA residents
annually.
Perhaps 7% of mercury lamps from
households are properly recycled
through piece-meal programs
operated by local governments,
utilities, and some retailers.
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Mercury-containing Lights Stewardship Law (70.275 RCW)
Overview of Developments
2010 – WA Law passed requiring producers of mercury lamps to
fund a statewide program for collection and recycling of mercury
lamps from households and small quantity generators.
Similar producer responsibility laws:
Maine in 2009 and Vermont in 2011.
Similar bills proposed, but not passed or enacted, in other states.
WA stewardship program start date in 2010 law was Jan. 1, 2013,
BUT…
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2014 Amendment to Mercury-containing Lights
Stewardship Law
NEMA developed new proposal for 2014 session, with greater
stakeholder input, and eventual agreement or neutral positions.
ESHB 2246 (Rep. Sam Hunt) passed & signed by Governor.
• Change in Financing Mechanism - Authorizes producers to
finance the stewardship program through an environmental
handling charge added to the price of mercury lights sold at retail.
• New program start date = Jan. 1, 2015.
• Collection language – language modified; program costs limited.
• Education/Program Promotion – program requirements added.
• 2025 program sunset date added (triggers formal sunset review).
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ESHB 2246: Environmental Handling Charge
Each lighting producer is responsible for ensuring the
environmental handling charge is remitted to a stewardship
organization for their mercury lights sold at retail in the state.
The legislation defines two options for how the environmental
handling charge is collected:
1. producers add the charge to the purchase price of their lamps
and remit the charge to the stewardship organization, or
2. a retailer forms a voluntary binding agreement with a
producer to add the charge to the purchase price of the lamp
and remit the charge to the stewardship organization on the
producer's behalf. Producers may not require or force
retailers to do this.
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Next Steps: Implementation of the
Mercury-containing Lights Stewardship Law
What WA stakeholders can do:
1. Review of Producer’s Proposed Stewardship Plan
Stakeholder and Public Comments due to Ecology July 9th.
2. Recommend collection partners to stewardship organization.
3. Help promote program start on January 1, 2015 throughout
Washington State.
4. Provide ongoing feedback on program effectiveness.
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WA Mercury-containing Lights Stewardship Law
Questions? Comments?
Next up:
• Kara Steward, WA State Department of Ecology
• Mark Kohorst, National Electrical Manufacturers Association
(NEMA)
• Mike O’Donnell, LightRecycle Washington
• Mark Kurschner, Product Care
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