Business & Tech

Earn $35 and Save the Planet

PPL customers who donate their energy-hogging refrigerators and freezers to the company's recycling program can earn money, save energy and do something good for the environment.

PPL Electric Utilities unveiled the second phase of its energy efficiency and conservation programs last Tuesday and its goal to recycle 100,000 appliances by 2016.

Tom Stathos, director of customer programs and services, said PPL has recycled 55,000 refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners since it launched its appliance recycling program in 2009. 

Stathos said the market is transforming because customers are becoming more environmentally conscious, buying products that are energy efficient and recycling or properly disposing of old appliances. 

PPL customers receive $35 for recycling their old refrigerator or freezer. Units are picked up at no cost to the customer. 

Customers can participate in PPL's recycling program by scheduling a time to have their appliances picked up by calling 877-270-3522 or visit www.pplelectric.com/recycle. 

Refrigerators or freezers must be in working order and measure between 10 cubic feet and 30 cubic feet. The program is limited to the removal of two units per household per calendar year.

"Energy efficiency is smart business," Stathos said.

Sam Sirkin, program developer at Jaco Environmental, which recycles appliances for PPL and other utilities, said they reclaim 95 percent of the materials in old refrigerators, which would otherwise end up in landfills.

Sirkin said the company dismantles refrigerators and saves metal, plastic and glass components, and destroys destructive CFC foam and gas that is used as a coolant. 

A refrigerator contains a pound of CFC gas and 10 pounds of CFC-containing foam, which produces 5,000 pounds of carbon dioxide and depletes the ozone, Sirkin said

One refrigerator contains about 125 pounds of steel, which can be recycled into steel rebar, he said. Glass can be mixed into concrete or used as aerator in potting soil, and plastic can get a second life in a cell phone or computer, he said.


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