Where to recycle your old refrigerator in Calgary area?

Getting rid of your old fridge can be done in a few ways:

1) City of Calgary Recycling Facility

If you have the capacity to carry and transport your refrigerator, you can drop off your old fridge at Calgary’s landfill Throw ‘n’ Go facilities (find a location near you on the city’s website.) You may be charged a small fee to remove the refrigerant.

2) Garbage Removal Company

Garbage disposal companies can pick up your fridge from your house for a small fee. You might be able to negotiate with them a ‘no-fee’ pickup if your fridge is still in working condition.

3) Used Appliance Shop

Some appliance shops may accept or buy your refrigerator. Depending on the type of fridge you have, if your appliance is still in good working condition, you may get paid $50-$200 for it.

 

Alberta plans to offer rebates on energy-efficient appliances

CBC News recently wrote that “Alberta is preparing a rebate program to encourage homeowners to purchase energy-efficient appliances and help the province reduce greenhouse gas emissions”.

You can read more about refrigerator’s energy efficiency on this pages:

Alberta’s Environment Minister Robin Campbell said “We are looking at incentives for residential homes. Looking at people replacing their furnaces, fridges, washer-dryers.”

Of course not everyone agrees on these government rebate initiatives.

As one comment mentioned:

“Hope someone does the math on how wasteful the dumping of perfectly good appliances is, in exchange for a newer appliance that ‘cuts energy use’ – what of all the energy used to make the new item, ship it and install it? What’s the recovery rate on that? And the old one? Straight to the landfill or is anyone turning these back into useful recovered materials? If so, at what cost? And why should taxpayers pay other taxpayers to do this? The people most in need of these kinds of rebates will never be able to afford it in the first place – but the burden of supporting the program will unevenly fall on them. Energy efficiency is a great idea – but not at the expense of all taxpayers.”

The logical conclusion is this:

If you have an old refrigerator that is malfunctioning  – you should get an expert to have a look at it. Once you get a quote for a repair, you’ll make a decision. Sometimes it is not worth fixing an old appliance. In that case, you should check what incentives are currently available for buying a new refrigerator.