One simple step to schedule an appliance pickup
Fortunately, they are easy to get rid of, thanks to a special Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) program that offers customers a $50 rebate to retire their aging refrigerator responsibly. It takes just one simple step to schedule an appliance pickup by PG&E's licensed recycler, JACO Environmental.
In addition, PG&E offers customers a $75 incentive to replace their clunker with an energy-saving new refrigerator that will lower their bills for years to come. The rebate is available on high-efficiency models that use at least 20 percent less energy than the new federal standard—less even than a 60 W light bulb.
An efficient new refrigerator can lower electric bills by nearly $100 a year compared to the average 15-year-old model it replaces, and almost $200 compared to a unit 25 years or older.
"More than 60 million refrigerators are over 10 years old, costing consumers $4.7 billion a year in energy costs," according to the federal Energy Star program. "If all refrigerators sold in the United States were ENERGY STAR® certified, the energy cost savings would grow to more than $400 million each year and 8 billion pounds of annual greenhouse gas emissions would be prevented, equivalent to the emissions from 750,000 vehicles."
Properly recycling old refrigerators offers many other environmental benefits as well. Recycling 25,000 refrigerators can collect as much aluminum as used in 2.1 million cans; provide raw materials for concrete, nails and even computers; and remove 250,000 pounds of foam insulation from landfills. Recycling also prevents hazardous oils, toxins, and ozone-depleting gases from escaping into the environment.