US recycling project targets refrigerators

USA – Refrigerator manufacturer GE and recycling company Appliance Recycling Centers of America (ARCA) are teaming up to expand recycling services to 12 US states. The companies claim their UNTHA Recycling Technology (URT) system will recover about 95% of the insulating foam, plus high-quality amounts of plastics, aluminium, copper and steel.

ARCA has invested US$ 10 million in URT and other new capital equipment at its facility in Philadelphia. The company has recruited 50 new employees as part of its plan to recycle up to 150 000 refrigerators per year.

Since February, the area served has doubled, which will increase the feed by 100 000 appliances. Consumers from 12 north-eastern and mid-Atlantic states of the USA can now take their used refrigerators to participating retailers, who will send them to ARCA as part of GE’s participation in the Environmental Protection Agency’s Responsible Appliance Disposal program.

In April, GE became the first major US appliance manufacturer to use an emissions-reducing foaming agent in production of freezer refrigerators at its plant in Alabama.