Ontario minister of the environment tours Arca Canada recycling facility

From left, Bruce Campbell, president and CEO, Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO); Glen Murray, minister of the environment and climate change; Joseph Berta, managing director, ARCA Canada; and Rob Burton, Oakville mayor; tour ARCA Canada’s refrigerator and freezer recycling plant in July 2015.

Ontario’s Minister of the Environment and Climate Change Glen Murray, toured appliance recycler ARCA Canada in Oakville, Ontario, to celebrate the takeback program's recycling of 500,000 fridges, freezers and other refrigerant-containing appliances since 2006.

The environmental implications of this milestone are significant, the recycler says. Without responsible recycling, mercury switches, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) capacitors and more than 30,000 kilograms of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), 8,800 kilograms of hydrochlorofluorocarbon-based (HCFC) and 1,800 kilograms of hydrofluorocarbon-based (HFC) refrigerants would have been released into the atmosphere. In addition to the refrigerants, 26 million kilograms of metals and 900,000 kilograms of plastics have been recycled, ARCA Canada says.

Of special interest to the minister was how the facility captures older refrigerants (R12, R22, and R134a), which have significant climate change implications if released into the atmosphere.

“The saveONenergy Fridge and Freezer Pickup program is a two-for-one success story,” observed Murray. “Taking old fridges and freezers out of basements, garages and kitchens saves energy, while the ARCA Canada processing and recycling program makes a very real contribution to fighting climate change.”

“In addition to recycling metals and plastics, special care is paid to the proper management of ozone-depleting refrigerant chemicals and gases containing CFCs, PCBs capacitors and mercury switches,” explained Joseph Berta, managing director of ARCA Canada. “Much of our collection success is attributable to the efforts of the local distribution companies who have promoted this program across Ontario.”

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) calculates that 1,000 properly decommissioned fridges, results in the same greenhouse gas emission reductions as removing 1,500 cars from the roads for a year.

“The saveONenergy Fridge and Freezer Pickup program, initially started by the Ontario Power Authority in 2006, resulted in about 420,000 fridges and freezers being collected,” said Bruce Campbell, president and CEO, Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO). “This represents enough electricity to power almost 22,000 homes for an entire year.”

The IESO is continuing the program until December 31, 2015. The free program is designed to make it easy for Ontarians to dispose of old, energy-inefficient appliances. Residents interested in participating are advised to call their Local Distribution Company (LDC) or visit the saveONenergy Fridge & Freezer Pickup webpage for program details.