Junk King Columbus Recycles Refrigerators & Freezers
An Introduction to the Benefits of Recycling Appliances
Part one of a multi–part series
Aside from legal requirements to dispose of appliances and electronics in ways that are environmentally sound you may ask yourself: Are there any real benefits to recycling old appliances ?
The answer is a resounding yes! As recycling technology improves, the benefits will only increase over time. But even now, recycling old consumer goods does a lot for the environment—and for generations to come—much of which consumers may not be aware of.
To begin, what types of appliances are suitable for recycling? Virtually any appliance is a good candidate for recycling including stoves, refrigerators, freezers, washers, dryers, and even water heaters. In addition, computers, monitors, printers, copy machines, and televisions are also readily recyclable. While these are not technically appliances, they are still very good candidates for recycling.
Protecting Our Resources
When it comes to recycling old appliances, it is no secret that these items take up a lot of room in landfills if they are not recycled. Perhaps more importantly reusing things conserves resources and protects the Earth in a multitude of ways. Even smaller recycling facilities can save tons of metal and plastics from landfills. Larger facilities can decrease the total waste we produce by hundreds of tons per year, and these trends are only increasing as more locales are setting up recycling centers.
While we here at Junk King Columbus look forward to the day that recycling is convenient and easy for all we are glad to help in anyway possible. We make regular trips to local recycling centers and last year we recycled over 65% of the items we collected from our customers homes and offices.
One of the main benefits of recycling old appliances has to do with the metal content that they contain. Some of the more common metals that can be recycled include steel, copper, aluminum, lead and gold. As we all know, appliances are often comprised mostly of various types of metals. Recycling these metals not only keeps them out of landfills but also helps the environment in that new metal content does not have to be extracted in order to make up the difference.
Many consumers do not realize that metal deposits are non-renewable resources. This means that when they run out, they are gone. As more nations begin to exploit their metal deposits, the overall amount of metal content within the Earth is depleted. And, again, these deposits, once gone, are gone forever.
Another important issue to keep in mind when considering recycling old appliances is that the vast majority of metal content that is extracted through recycling is still usable. Recycled metals can be used for new products thus greatly reducing the need for new deposits to be dug up and processed.
Protecting Our Environment
It should also be kept in mind that when old appliances and electronics are not recycled they often find their way into environment through dumping. As metals decompose, their elements can sink into the soil as well as into ground water and aquifers. Some types of metals, such as lead and iron, can cause damage to water supplies and cause harm to those who may ingest contaminated water. By recycling, these heavy metals are kept out of the eco-systems that we all depend on including water sources both on the surface and underground.
As more people start recycling, the benefits to the environment will only increase. Plenty of information is available online for those who wish to learn more about protecting the Earth through recycling efforts and you can look forward to us publishing several more articles as part of this series highlighting the benefits of, and specific information about, recycling common household appliances.