What Is Switch Out?
Switch Out is the first program in Canada to address the use of mercury in vehicles and mercury emissions from vehicle recycling. It represents a partnership of government, industry, and non-profit organizations with the common goal of implementing an effective, cost-efficient, and sustainable program to recover mercury from vehicles and prevent it from being released into the environment.

	Tara Lynn Nava who works on Car Heaven; Ed McDonald who is the Chair of the Automotive Recyclers of Canada and Megan Bennett, who works on Switch Out, enjoy an afternoon at Thorold Auto Parts during the Ontario Automotive Recyclers Association AGM

There are 13 to 15 tonnes of mercury in vehicles on the road in Canada. Without a collection program in place, virtually all of that mercury would be released to the environment. If mercury-containing switches are not removed from cars before they enter the waste stream, mercury emissions result as a by-product of crushing and shredding auto hulks to recycle the steel. Once in the environment, mercury can have a significant negative impact on human and animal health.

Switch Out works with automobile recyclers to collect mercury pellets from switches in end-of-life vehicles (ELVs) processed at their facilities before they are crushed and sent for shredding. Automobile recyclers across Canada are participating voluntarily in the Switch Out Program, generating real change and awareness.

Pollution Probe piloted the program in the fall of 2000 with 11 automobile recyclers in Ontario. The program was transferred to the Clean Air Foundation in 2001, and has since become an award winning program. Switch Out currently operates in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario, and is being expanded to include Quebec and the Atlantic Provinces.

Where does the mercury go?
All mercury currently collected through the Switch Out program is sent to Fluorescent Lamp Recyclers (FLR) in Ayr, Ontario. In the absence of a closed-loop recycling program, the mercury is put into long term storage to ensure that it is not released into the environment later in life. The Clean Air Foundation is encouraging the development of permanent disposal options for mercury in order to completely remove the mercury from commerce.