Focus on Energy: Five reasons to recycle your old refrigerator or freezer

MEDIA CONTACT:

Sarah Platt
Director of Marketing & Communications
608-230-7031
sarah.platt@focusonenergy.com

Focus on Energy’s Appliance Recycling Program Pays & Saves Cash

MADISON, WI (June 24, 2014) – Do you have a second refrigerator that you don’t need? It might be time to consider recycling that old refrigerator or freezer through Focus on Energy’s Appliance Recycling Program. Focus on Energy, Wisconsin utilities’ statewide program for energy efficiency and renewable energy, pays Wisconsin residents a $40 incentive to recycle their old refrigerator or freezer, and will pick up the unit at the customer’s home.

Why recycle? Here are the top five reasons to participate:

It’s easy. The only lifting required is lifting your finger to call 1-855-398-5226 or visit focusonenergy.com/appliance to schedule a home pickup.

It’s free. Recycling your refrigerator or freezer through the program won’t cost you a cent. Focus on Energy will pick up the old unit from your home and haul it away for free.

It pays. All program participants receive a $40 incentive check for recycling their old refrigerator or freezer.

It saves. Because older units were not built to current energy efficiency standards, retiring and recycling an inefficient refrigerator or freezer can save you up to $150 annually on reduced household energy costs.

It’s green. Recycling the unit can have the impact of taking two cars off the road for a year. By ensuring your old unit is safely and responsibly recycled, you save it from rusting away in a landfill and instead repurpose the materials back into the manufacturing stream.

Participating customers will receive a $40 incentive check in the mail in about four to six weeks. There is a limit of two units for every household. Appliances must be in working order with an inside measurement between 10 and 30 cubic feet, standard size for most units.

“Old refrigerators and freezers can use up to three times the energy of newer models and are often expensive to run,” said Tamara Sondgeroth, Focus on Energy’s Director of Operations. “These older devices can be big contributors to household energy costs because of their inefficiency.”

Units picked up through the program are transported to an appliance recycling facility in Franklin, Wisconsin. Hazardous materials are removed from the old appliances, reclaiming 95 percent of the materials for reuse in manufacturing new products. Even the foam insulation is safely incinerated to generate electricity.

About Focus on Energy

Focus on Energy is Wisconsin utilities’ statewide energy efficiency and renewable resource program funded by the state’s investor-owned energy utilities and participating municipal and electric cooperative utilities. Focus on Energy works with eligible Wisconsin residents and businesses to install cost-effective energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. Focus on Energy information, resources and financial incentives help to implement projects that otherwise would not be completed. Its efforts help Wisconsin residents and businesses manage rising energy costs, promote in-state economic development, protect our environment and control Wisconsin’s growing demand for electricity and natural gas. For more information call 800.762.7077 or visit focusonenergy.com.