Great Texas Refrigerator Roundup Underway

Have an old refrigerator or freezer lying around the house? Live in Texas? If you answered “yes” to both  questions, you could have $50 headed your way. Oncor, in partnership with Appliance Recycling Centers of America (ARCA), has begun the second annual “Great Texas Refrigerator Roundup,” encouraging customers to get rid of out-of-date and inefficient refrigerators and freezers.

Refrigerators and freezers contribute to hazardous waste if landfilled improperly. Photo: Oncor.com.

For a limited time, Oncor residential electric customers can turn in up to two refrigerators or freezers per household, earning $50 per appliance. The units will be dismantled and the parts recycled, reducing the amounts of materials headed to the landfill.

“Out-of-date, inefficient refrigerators and freezers waste energy,” said Michael Stockard, Oncor’s director of energy efficiencyprograms. “Oncor’s program can help consumers save energy, protect the state’s natural resources through proper recycling, and earn $50. It’s hard to argue with that offer.”

The Great Texas Refrigerator Roundup is part of Oncor’s “Take A Load Off, Texas” tour, an educational campaign designed to speak to consumers about the importance of energy efficiency. The program has reached more than 2.8 million consumers throughout the state.

According to the U.S. EPA, older refrigerators and freezers can put a great strain on local power grids, often using more than twice the energy of a new ENERGY STAR qualified model. By upgrading to an energy efficient model, consumers can save between $50-100 in energy costs annually.

ENERGY STAR estimates there are over 47 million refrigerators over ten years old in the U.S. If every American home replaced its pre-1993 refrigerator with an ENERGY STAR model, enough energy would be saved to light more than 8.1 million homes for an entire year.

If you’re looking to recycle a refrigerator or freezer outside of Texas, check out the Recycle My Old Fridge Campaign.