PUD Offers Incentive for Recycling Old Refrigerators/Freezers
Old refrigerators and freezers often become inefficient storage areas for a handful of items – a few cans of soda or some frozen dinners. This program gives customers a convenient way to safely recycle these units and save money on their energy bills. To calculate energy savings, click here.
Snohomish County PUD has extended its refrigerator/freezer recycling program with JACO Environmental (a local appliance recycler). The program offers $30 to customers willing to give up their old refrigerators and freezers. Since the program’s inception in 2004, the utility has collected over 12,000 energy-wasting units, which can use up to three times the energy of newer models.
It’s easy for customers to participate. JACO picks up units from customers, right from their homes when they call for a collection.
To have a refrigerator or freezer picked up and recycled, it needs to be in working condition and between 10 to 30 cubic feet in size. Units also must be 1995 models or older. The program is for Snohomish County PUD customers only. Customers must own the unit(s) being recycled, with a pickup limit of two units per account. The $30 incentive check will be mailed to the customer within 4 to 6 weeks after the appliance collection.
The collected appliances are recycled at a JACO Environmental facility in Portland, Ore., and according to the latest guidelines from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Over 90 percent of each refrigerator or freezer is recycled.
At the same time, JACO safely disposes of toxins and ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbon gases from foam insulation, called CFC-11. When disposed of improperly, refrigerators become environmental time bombs. Mercury switches and capacitors containing PCBs leak toxins, but those are minor impacts compared to the foam insulation inside the walls of the refrigerators.
Typically refrigerators and freezers are sent to metal recycling yards, where they are shredded and there is an out-gassing of the CFC-11. This releases chlorofluoro-carbons into the atmosphere, which accelerates destruction of the protective ozone layer. The safe disposal of refrigerators promises to slow, stop or even reverse ozone destruction, and the numbers clearly illustrate this potential. An average refrigerator contains about 10 pounds of foam insulation and one pound of CFC-11, equivalent to 2.3 tons of carbon dioxide. In the U.S. alone, 8 million refrigerators and freezers reach the end of their functional life span each year. Unless they are properly disposed of, foam and refrigerant from these old appliances release thousands of tons of ozone-depleting CFC-11 into the atmosphere each year.
For more details or to schedule an appliance pick-up, Snohomish County PUD customers can call toll-free 1-877-577-0510. To help process your request, please have your PUD account number available when placing the call.
Snohomish County Public Utility District No. 1