Recycle that fridge: a hot idea

By Leslie Kelly
Special to The Seattle Times

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That old refrigerator storing extra pop in the basement may be consuming extra energy, too.

Snohomish County Public Utility District customers who turn in old refrigerators as part of a recycling program this fall will receive $35. The PUD and Jaco Environmental, a local appliance recycler, are piloting the program, which began this week.

But interested customers must act fast. The program is funded for 1,000 fridges and freezers, and 777 of those spots were snapped up when the phone lines opened Monday, said PUD spokesman Neil Neroutsos. Local media — including television-news teasers during Sunday's World Series and Seattle Seahawks games — did the trick, he said.

The PUD board might boost the program's funding to allow more customers to participate, he said.

"We're really excited about this program," said Bob Nicholas, the PUD's manager of product development. "This is a great way for customers to get rid of inefficient refrigerators and freezers in an environmentally sound manner."

The program is designed to decrease the number of high-energy refrigerators and freezers, and reduce the overall customer energy use, Nicholas said. Jaco will pick up the old units from customers' homes; the PUD will send a check in return.

Even after buying new refrigerators, consumers often keep their old ones, but that's inefficient energy use, Nicholas said.

"The older units use three times as much energy," he said. "Over a year, that means a cost of $84 [or more] to the consumer."

Without that old fridge around the house, Nicholas said, a PUD customer can save $7 to $10 a month in electricity costs.
 
Jaco, which began in Snohomish as an old-appliance hauler and distributor, has an environmentally friendly refrigerator- and freezer-recycling facility in Portland.

The company recycles about 150,000 refrigerators and freezers annually. More than 90 percent of each refrigerator or freezer is recycled, said Michael Dunham, the company's director of energy and environmental programs.

The company disposes of toxics and ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbon gases (called CFC-11) from foam insulation in the units, he said.

Typically, refrigerators and freezers are sent to metal recycling yards, where they are shredded and the CFC-11 gases allowed to be released into the air, PUD officials point out.

An average refrigerator — one that's more than 10 years old — contains about 10 pounds of foam insulation and one pound of CFC-11, equal to 2.3 tons of carbon dioxide.

The insulation, Dunham said, is incinerated in a process that creates electricity, which is then sold back to Puget Sound-area companies.

The program is projected to cost the PUD about $134,000, to be paid from the conservation portion of the annual budget.

If the pilot program is successful, the PUD board will consider making it permanent.

To schedule a pickup, call 877-577-0510. Refrigerators or freezers must be 14 to 27 cubic feet and in working condition. The limit is two per household.

Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau reporter Diane Brooks contributed to this report. Leslie Kelly: snohomishcounty@seattletimes.com