Over 200 appliances collected during Coolest Recycling Drive

Sustainable Warwick said more than 200 appliances were collected during its recent Coolest Recycling Drive. In addition, the organization reported that one refrigerant tank with 13 pounds of R2216 working air conditioning units and one mini-refrigerator were given to Warwick’s Mountain Lake Park for re-use and will be used to replace the oldest air conditioners.

Thanks to the efforts of local volunteers, the estimated greenhouse gas emissions avoided was 201 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, Sustainable Warwick claimed.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas equivalency calculator, this is the same as the greenhouse gas emissions from 46 gas-powered vehicles driven for one year or 27 homes’ energy use for one year. It is also equivalent to greenhouse gas emissions avoided by recycling instead of landfilling more than 17,000 bags of waste.

To accomplish this, Sustainable Warwick spent more than $1,600 on refrigerant recovery for this year’s Coolest Recycling Drive, but earned more than half of that back from scrap metal recycling and cash donations from generous participants.

“Small amounts of refrigerants can have huge environmental impacts,” said Michael Helme, organizer of the Coolest Recycling Drives. “When we safely recover them into refrigerant tanks, they collectively make for a shockingly large benefit at a very low price.”