London, Ontario -- November 2, 2011 -- The Canadian Steel Producers Association announced powerful new policy changes in its latest Environmental Performance Report, and one company has already stepped up to the plate to put those changes into effect. Gerdau Ameristeel recently sent out letters to numerous scrap suppliers, outlining the dangers of mercury contamination, and reminding scrap suppliers that participation in mercury switch removal is a condition of providing automotive scrap to Gerdau’s North American steel mills and shredders.   

From the letter:

Mercury is a “…persistent and bio-accumulative neurotoxin of global concern.”¹ Mercury-containing switches in the automobile waste stream remain a significant source of mercury releases in Canada.  Although their use has been discontinued, there remains a legacy of switches that need to be responsibly recovered to prevent the mercury from being released to the environment …Gerdau supports the Canadian “Switch Out” program and encourages all of its scrap suppliers to be an active participant.  Switch Out is a national program funded by the Canadian Steel Producers and the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers Association; it provides training and infrastructure to facilitate the capture and proper recycling of “convenience” (hood and trunk) switches as well as mercury containing ABS Switches.

The “Notice” requires us to evaluate the effectiveness of the program on an annual basis; to accomplish this we review out supplier’s participation every 6 months by checking the nation switch removal online database.  We verify that out suppliers are registered in the program AND that there is reasonable evidence that they are actively participating by turning in switches.

Mercury switch removal has long been a part of what legitimate auto recyclers do. Steve Fletcher, Executive Director of the Auto Recyclers of Canada (ARC), says this directive simply serves to level the playing field.

The Canadian Steel Producers Association’s stance on mercury builds on incentives already in place to encourage those dealing with automotive salvage to process the vehicles properly in an environmentally friendly manner. A recent decision by ARC’s Board of Directors means that all ARC associations, and therefore all ARC member auto recyclers, must be able to demonstrate active participation in a mercury sequestration program such as Switch Out in order to join or maintain membership with the association.

The report from the Canadian Steel Producers Association highlights many of the recent environmental successes and initiatives undertaken by the CSPA, and also includes their new policy stance on mercury that is sometimes left behind in scrap metal. This new policy for scrap metal, entitled "Zero Mercury Purchasing Policy" shows the strong commitment of the member companies to preventing mercury emissions. They state that "CSPA supports the principle of utilizing mercury-free scrap steel to the greatest extent practicable, from automotive and non-automotive sources". To ensure that this purchasing policy is executed, each of the CSPA member companies will now require that all steel mill scrap that is supplied to them is mercury-free. This move demonstrates their deep commitment to environmental performance.

This policy also supports the automotive recyclers and dismantlers from across Canada who have been voluntarily recovering mercury switches from end-of-life-vehicles for the last decade. Since CSPA member companies will now require suppliers to have programs in place to identify, remove, track and properly dispose of sources of mercury, and may audit to ensure that this is the case, there will effectively be a leveling of the proverbial playing field. In other words, businesses that have not voluntarily pulled mercury switches will need to rise to a higher level of environmental achievement in terms of automotive de-polluting, if they haven’t yet done so. Failing to do so could affect their ability to stay in business.

This is an excellent example of how markets can drive environmental change for the better. Driving the market towards sustainability is in fact part of Summerhill Impact’s goals, so this initiative is a particularly good fit between the funders and managers of Switch Out.

Switch Out hopes that the CSPA’s new policy will drive new program registration. Potential registrants should be aware that the Switch Out program remains completely free of cost to participants, moreover, participation is easy.

For more information on the CSPA’s "Zero Mercury Purchasing Policy" please see canadiansteel.ca.