NSTAR offering $50 to recycle old fridge or freezer

Spruce up for spring and get rid of that old energy-guzzling refrigerator or freezer with NSTAR’s appliance recycling program, which pays a $50 reward for having secondary units picked up free of charge at customers’ homes.

The program is an ideal way to boost household energy efficiency while spring cleaning. What many folks may not realize is that older refrigerators and freezers require as much as three times more electricity to run than newer models built to higher energy-efficiency standards. Residents taking part in NSTAR’s appliance recycling program can save as much as $150 a year on energy bills by having the old units unplugged and hauled away.

“This innovative recycling program helps our customers save money and energy, while also getting a little extra cash with our $50 incentive,” said Penni Conner, NSTAR vice president of customer care. “Not only are customers saving money with this program; they are also helping the environment.”

This program is offered to residential electric customers of NSTAR, National Grid, Western Massachusetts Electric Co., Unitil, and Cape Light Compact. Customers can schedule the pickup of refrigerators or freezers by calling 1-877-545-4113 or going online at www.MassSave.com/recycle.

Refrigerators and freezers to be recycled must be secondary units in working order with an inside measurement of 10 cubic feet or more.

JACO Environmental, the appliance recycling contractor working with NSTAR, will recycle refrigerators through a process that returns 95 percent of the refrigerator components back into the manufacturing stream. It also safely extracts various toxic components found inside refrigerators, including contaminated oils, mercury and CFCs that both deplete the ozone layer and accelerate global warming. Foam insulation is safely incinerated to generate electricity, returning back to the grid some of the energy the old appliances wasted over the years.

“By recycling an older, extra refrigerator, people benefit economically as well as helping to save the environment, all at the same time,” said Michael Dunham of JACO Environmental.

NSTAR is the largest Massachusetts-based, investor-owned electric and gas utility. The company transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas to 1.4 million customers in eastern and central Massachusetts, including more than one million electric customers in 81 communities and 300,000 gas customers in 51 communities. For more information, visit www.nstar.com.

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Posted by Canton Citizen on May 16 2012. Filed under Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.