NEW YORK, NY — Thermostat Recycling Corp. (TRC) announced that Johnstone Supply, Famous Supply, and Geary Pacific are the 2021 Banish Mercury Off the Planet (BMOP) winners. 

The annual competition among Heating, Air-conditioning, and Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) members recovered 239 pounds of mercury from 70 member companies, increasing more than 16 pounds from last year, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, more than 380 branch locations returned collection bins during the contest period, from May 1 to Oct. 31. 

"Our distributor partners never stopped collecting and safely recycling mercury-containing thermostats despite all the difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic,” said Danielle Myers, operations & compliance manager, TRC. “They have demonstrated good business awareness and sound environmental practices year after year. In the collection of mercury-containing thermostat recovery, there is no equal to HARDI distributors.” 

TRC released the names of the BMOP winners during HARDI's Annual Conference, Dec. 6.

Distributor Prize Winners:

• Johnstone Supply recycled the most pounds of mercury at 87.8.
• Famous Supply recycled the highest average pounds of mercury with 3.0 pounds. 
• Geary Pacific had the highest participation rate of 34%.
  
  

Top 3 Branches for Recycling:

• Geary Pacific, Riverside, CA (8.816 pounds) 
• G. W. Berkheimer Co., Aurora, IL (8.525 pounds)
• R.E. Michel, Norristown, PA (7.948 pounds)

Originally founded in 1998 by Honeywell, White-Rodgers, and General Electric as a voluntary venture, TRC was established to promote the safe collection and proper disposal of mercury-containing thermostats. Today, more than 3,600 businesses and communities in 48 states are enrolled in TRC's program. Since its founding, TRC has collected more than 2.7 million mercury-containing thermostats that have kept 12 tons of mercury out of the waste stream.