Need to Dispose of a Large Appliance? Keep the Following in Mind

Are you refurbishing your kitchen? Or maybe you need to replace that twenty-something-year-old washer and drier? Modern appliances work better, use less energy, and come color-coded to suit your décor scheme. These are some of the reasons why you may be replacing your old ones. You may want them out of your life, but you need to make sure that it is not at the expense of the environment.

That time comes when your electrical appliances will need replacing but before you ditch the old ones by dumping them in the landfill, there are a few things you should know about the harmful materials they are composed of. These materials are the reason why old appliances should not find their way into your local landfill. The good news is that when electrical appliances are disposed of correctly, these harmful materials can be processed in such a way that they do not pollute the environment.

How to Get Rid of Old Appliances

Instead of tossing them out, consider reusing them or recycling them so that the harmful components cannot cause damage to the environment. What a good way of reducing your carbon footprint and at the same time protecting our environment.

1. Reusing Old Appliances

   If your appliances are still in working order you may consider selling them yourself. Besides making yourself some money the buyer is responsible for taking it away, so you do not have the responsibility of finding transport to get rid of it.
   The other way of reusing your old appliances is to donate them to a charity of your choice. Some charities will even collect your old TVs, washing machines, fridges, etc. themselves which they will then sell in their shops.
   
   Donating your unwanted electrical appliances has some major benefits. One of the main environmental benefits is that it prevents the materials that are used in the manufacture of these goods from being lost forever from the chain. These materials are extracted and can be reused to manufacture new ones.
   The major social benefit is that donating or repairing appliances that are not working will ensure that they can be reused by someone who actually needs them.

2. Recycling Old Appliances
   

   There are many options when it comes to recycling your appliances. The store where you bought your new one may offer a service whereby they accept the old one back for recycling. Another option is to use the recycling banks or collection points in your neighborhood. Otherwise, arrange a collection from your home by a junk removal company such as Little Green Junk which will ensure that your unwanted appliance is taken to the correct place to be disposed of responsibly.

Holding onto an old appliance for too long can be just as harmful to the environment as disposing of it irresponsibly. Old appliances are inefficient which means they consume more energy leading to greater resource use and higher greenhouse gas emissions. 

What Are the Harmful Materials in Old Appliances?

Older fridges, AC units, microwaves, and other appliances contain a material called CFC which damages the ozone layer if it is left out in the landfill. Fortunately, CFC has been replaced by other materials, so it is no longer used in the manufacture of these appliances. 

There are other chemicals and components that are also harmful to our air, water, and soil. Some of these are heavy metals such as lead and mercury. Cadmium, chromium, refrigerant, and other gases and chemicals such as biphenyls, used oil, and fluorocarbons are also present in appliances and these toxic components have no place in a landfill. 

How Does Recycling Help?

Many of the materials used to manufacture these appliances such as metals, plastics, and glass can be recycled. The harmful chemicals can be safely disposed of by experts.

This accomplishes three important goals:

• Keeps our landfills from growing (consider how many tons of appliances are discarded each year).
• Keeps harmful materials and gases out of our air and water supply.
• Reuses materials for the manufacture of new appliances thus saving the environment from the damage caused by procuring new materials.

It is therefore vital to keep these in mind when we have any household appliances we need to dispose of.

Which Home Appliances We Should be Recycling?

It is basically all of them, from washers and dryers, to heat pumps, garbage disposals, microwaves, stoves, air conditioners, furnaces, fridges, and freezers, to ovens and water softeners.

Electronics such as smart devices, laptops, phones, TVs, gaming, and electronic toys can be recycled. So can all power tools, and gardening equipment.  

By making sure that it stays out of the landfill we all win – especially our environment which is under so much pressure from the pollution caused by junk that could actually be recycled.

Little Green Junk

Help us reduce the amount of waste going into our landfills by thinking about your waste generation and applying the principles we are advising. As a leading waste removal company based here in your community, you don’t have to look any further than Little Green Junk, PA. We are a company with a great reputation for removing and disposing of waste responsibly. Trust us with your waste and you will be assured our actions will be environmentally friendly. 

One of our missions is to end the incorrect disposal of waste, and this includes large and small appliances. We make sure that your waste is recycled where possible, and we use the landfill as a last resort.

We offer a professional service to our customers. We arrive on time to load up your waste, do the heavy lifting, and leave the area we removed it from swept, and cleaned.

We come to you at a time suitable to you, and this includes weekends, and if you are desperate to get rid of something, we can even arrange a same-day service.

We remove any household waste, yard waste, construction, and demolition waste, and can be on hand to assist with your garage or basement cleanouts. We are the go-to guys in the York PA area. 

Please contact us at inquiries@littlegreenjunk.com  

Call us on 717 467 0070.

www.littlegreenjunk.com