(1) Stewardship organizations must work with the department, local government officials, retailers, electric utilities, and citizens to establish a convenient collection system for covered entities to deliver their mercury-containing lights into the program.

(a) Product stewardship programs must collect unwanted mercury-containing lights delivered from covered entities for recycling, processing, or final disposition, and not charge a fee when lights are dropped off or delivered into the program.

(b) The stewardship organization must arrange for collection service at locations described in subsection (2) of this section, which may include household hazardous waste facilities, charities, retailers, government recycling sites, or other suitable private locations. No such entity is required to provide collection services at their location. For curbside and mail-back programs, a stewardship organization must pay the costs of transporting mercury-containing lights from accumulation points and for processing mercury-containing lights collected by curbside and mail-back programs.

(c) For collection locations, including household hazardous waste facilities, charities, retailers, government recycling sites, or other suitable private locations, a stewardship organization must pay the costs of packaging and shipping materials as required under WAC 173-910-520(7), or must compensate collectors for the costs of those materials, and must pay the costs of transportation and processing of mercury-containing lights collected from the collection locations.

(2) Convenient collection service will:

(a) County: Provide collection services for mercury-containing lights for each county of the state;

(b) City: Provide additional collection services in each city or town with a population greater than ten thousand; and

(c) Rural: Consult with rural counties that do not have logical in-county collection sites to provide convenient alternative arrangements.

(3) This system may provide collection through:

(a) The nearest commercial centers, solid waste sites, retail businesses, household hazardous waste, or other facilities;

(b) Collection events;

(c) Curbside collection, a premium service;

(d) Mail-back service, a premium service; or

(e) A combination of these options.

(4) Stewardship organizations must register collectors and provide updated collector information to the department, including:

(a) Contact information, including site name, operator name, physical address, telephone number, and hours of operation;

(b) Identify prospective collection sites not approved to participate in the program. Provide copies to the department of all written correspondence related to prospective collection sites that were not approved. Notify the department, within five days of denial of a prospective collection site, including the reason for denial.

(5) Each collection site or service must accept up to ten mercury-containing lights on any given day from covered entities at no charge, except for premium services, when lights are dropped off or delivered. Only premium services, such as curbside collection, can accept up to fifteen mercury-containing lights on any given day from covered entities.

(6) Each collection site or service must:

(a) Comply with WAC 173-303-573 as small quantity handlers of universal waste for lamps;

(b) Collect and store mercury-containing lights in a structurally sound container that, when sealed, is designed to prevent the escape of mercury into the environment by volatilization or any other means;

(c) Have a spill and release response plan that describes the materials, equipment, and procedures that will be used to respond to any mercury release from a mercury-containing light; and

(d) Have a worker safety plan that describes the handling of the mercury-containing lights at the collection location and the measures that will be taken to protect worker health and safety.

(7) All mercury-containing lights collected by a product stewardship program must be recycled.