Daily Southtown: Down to Earth - You’ll need an expert to get rid of Freon
Filed under: Earth 911 - June 18, 2007
By Christopher Appelt Down to Earth columnist
June 18, 2007
Q: Help! Help! Please! We are in desperate need of professional advice. I am writing to you regarding the proper disposal of the refrigerant and air-conditioning gas Freon. My husband and I have four old window air-conditioning units taking up space in our garage. It’s our hope to take the valuable metal in these units to the junk metal yard to earn extra money to supplement our pension checks, but dealers will not accept these units with the Freon still in them.
Albert and Dorothy Majersky
Chicago
A: This is a great follow-up to my last column, in which I recommended switching out old and inefficient air conditioners. I never mentioned what you should do with the old units!
As you mentioned, air conditioners (as well as refrigerators, freezers and dehumidifiers) contain Freon, which can damage the ozone layer. Only trained and certified technicians can remove Freon from appliances.
Some waste/recycling facilities employ trained technicians. The Freon can be purified and recycled, and then the metal can be recycled.
If you’re replacing your air conditioners with new ones, some retailers will dispose of your old units. Otherwise, some appliance and salvage places will pick them up or drop them off either for free or a fee.
Look them up in the phone book under “Appliance Service & Repair.” Another option I found is www.earth911.org. Type in the item you want to recycle and your location.
Locations and phone numbers are provided, but beware, I typed in “air conditioner” and the first place didn’t take appliances with Freon. The others did not explicitly exclude items with Freon.
You can also call your local waste management company to see if they will pick up your items. If you don’t know the company’s name, call your city or village hall.
The city of Chicago requires scrap companies to remove Freon on site. So if you do leave them in the alley, the Freon would be removed if they were taken for scrap. Similarly, if you leave them out and the city picks them up, they will be sorted and properly disposed.
So, I suppose leaving them out might be okay, but it’s always possible the tubing holding the Freon could be damaged if the air conditioners are thrown into a garbage truck or a scrapper’s pick-up.
For information on disposal of household appliances, also called “white goods,” check out www.epa.gov/epaoswer/non-hw/muncpl/landfill/sw_landfill.htm#white.
Another follow-up
A couple of months ago, I answered a reader’s questions about electronics recycling on the South Side. I only knew of Household Chemicals & Computer Recycling at 1150 N. North Branch in Chicago.
Since then, N. Dunne of Hometown and L. Ward of Burbank have given me a couple of other alternatives.
The Assistive Technology Exchange Network refurbishes computers and related equipment and provides them to disabled students at no charge. Call (800) 476-2836 or (708) 444-8460, or send e-mail to ggrill@ucpnet.org.
Office supply company Staples collects computers and office electronics for recycling. They’ll take cell phones, pagers and digital cameras for free, and charge $10 each for monitors and computers (mice, keyboards and speakers are accepted for free).
Dr. Christopher Appelt is an assistant professor of biological science at Saint Xavier University in Chicago, where he teaches courses on animal behavior and the environment.