As hundreds of thousands of clunkers head to the scrap yard, US government-backed General Motors (GM) has dropped out of a partnership that collects toxic parts from recycled automobiles to prevent mercury pollution.
Participants in the environmental program told reporters the timing of GM’s departure could undermine their work. The government’s “cash for clunkers” program will lead to trade-in and recycling of an estimated 750,000 vehicles, some of which contain mercury switches.
GM said its new company was not a member of the partnership because it no longer made vehicles with mercury switches and was not responsible for the older vehicles. The old company, which is still under bankruptcy court supervision, said it was reviewing agreements involving the former company and declined to comment.
General Motors Co, 60.8 percent owned by the US government, emerged from bankruptcy protection last month under a plan in which its best-performing assets were sold to form a new company. The former company, now called Motors Liquidation Co, is a conglomeration of GM’s liabilities and underperforming assets that remains under court supervision.
Roughly 36 million mercury switches were used in trunk convenience lights and antilock brakes in vehicles built in the 1980s and 1990s. More than half of them are in GM vehicles built before 2000.
Mercury released into the air can accumulate in plants, fish and humans. Children and fetuses are vulnerable to the effects of the toxic metal, which can damage the development of the nervous system.
The auto industry partnership, called the End of Life Vehicle Solutions (ELVS), was created in 2005 to prevent mercury emissions from being released into the environment when vehicles are crushed and shredded.
It works closely with the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program, which the Environmental Protection Agency helped form with automakers, the steel industry and environmentalists in 2006.
The program, which is scheduled to run until 2017, has recovered 2.5 million switches and disposed of about 2.5 tonnes of mercury.
General Motors, prior to its bankruptcy, was the group’s largest participant and informed the partnership of the change last week.
Mary Bills, the partnership’s executive director, said GM has not paid its dues since filing for bankruptcy. Its annual bill is US$700,000 to US$1 million, a substantial portion of the program’s funding.
GM spokeswoman Sharon Basel said GM’s former entity remains a member of the partnership.
The new automaker, however, “has never produced vehicles with mercury switches and has no mercury switch responsibility under the terms of the bankruptcy court order,” Basel said.
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