May 7, 2008 News Media Release
10,000th Appliance to be Recycled

The Austin Energy Refrigerator Recycling Program, the first in Texas and one of only about two dozen programs nation-wide, reached a major milestone six months ahead of schedule: the recycling of its 10,000th appliance. And at the current pace, the program can expect to reach the 20,000 unit mark in another three years—a year earlier than originally projected.

As of the end of April, the four-year old program had recycled 8,711 refrigerators and 1,313 freezers. A pre-1993 refrigerator or freezer uses about twice the electricity of today’s new energy efficient models.

Recycling 10,000 units has produced more than 1,000 tons of metal and almost 4,000 pounds of refrigerants that would have otherwise potentially ended up in landfills. It has also prevented the generation of 9.2 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity, enough energy to power almost 800 average homes for a year. For Austin Energy customers turning in the units, the reduced energy usage translates into $830,000 of savings on their electric bills.

The environmental benefits are equally impressive. Off-setting the generation of 9.2 million kWh of electricity avoids 5,968 tons of CO2. That represents the equivalent of removing more than 1,300 vehicles off the road or the CO2 cleansing power of more than 209,000 trees.

Austin Energy contracts with Appliance Recycling Centers of America (ARCA) for the pickup and recycling of units. Since 1976, ARCA has recycled more than 2.5 million refrigerators and other appliances working with some 50 different electric utilities across the country.

ARCA was also an industry contributor during the development of the U.S. EPA’s Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) program. To participate in RAD, a program must properly recycle, recover, reclaim, destroy and dispose of as much as possible of the appliances collected, including rigid foam insulation, using environmentally sound practices and technologies. ARCA recycles up to 95% of all appliance parts and materials. This includes all refrigerants which are collected and reclaimed or destroyed in an environmentally sound manner. ARCA also recycles the ferrous and non-ferrous metals, evaporators, fan motors, compressors, glass (whenever possible), drawers, crispers, and other plastic pieces.

The Refrigerator Recycling Program is open to Austin Energy customers for the recycling of working (cooling) refrigerators and freezers. Pick up is free and participating customers receive a $50 rebate for each appliance (limit two per household per year). To arrange a pickup, call 1-800-452-8685.

For more information, contact Ed Clark, Public Information.
Phone: (512) 322-6514
Pager: (512) 802-2000