Recycling refrigerators, especially older ones, can be a tricky business. The freon coolant that was used until 15 years ago can cause ozone depletion, and as such is now banned. Regulations also forbid the release of liquid refrigerants during the recycling process, but the problem is that up to 70% of the refrigerant is not in the cooling system, it is found in the insulating foam. Unless safeguards are taken, refrigerant can be released from the foam during recycling, or in the landfill after being discarded.
While European companies are required to capture refrigerant in the foam, this has not been a requirement of U.S. companies. Now a few U.S. recyclers have established systems that will allow them to capture refrigerants. This includes an installation by Appliance Recycling Centers of America in Philadelphia, one that extracts 99.8 percent of coolant. Utilizing shredders, magnets and other recycling equipment, metal recycling and plastic recycling take place, as with insulative foam, which is pelletized. Equipment had to be scaled up to handle U.S. refrigerators which on average are three times the size of European counterparts. The process takes place in a sealed environment so harmful gases cannot escape to the atmosphere.
And it doesn't sound like the supply of old fridges will run out anytime soon. JACO, another recycling company, recycled 480,000 refrigeratorsin 2010, with an average age of 21 years.
Recyclers will be motivated to invest in the technology to more effectively recycle refrigerators through financial incentives, with jurisdictions such as California implementing cap-and-trade regulations in the near future.
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