The organization GoRecycle wants to tackle the responsible recycling of household appliances, including refrigeration and air conditioning units.
According to the NPO, each year, some 300,000 appliances are improperly recycled in Quebec, knowing that a poorly recycled refrigerant appliance generates on average 1 ton of greenhouse gases.
Such a quantity is equivalent to the addition of nearly 100,000 cars on the roads of Quebec, is alarmed the organization which wants to do educational work by raising awareness on this environmental issue.
“Most people don’t know that responsible recycling of refrigeration and air conditioning appliances is one of the most effective ways to fight climate change,” said Jules Foisy Lapointe, CEO of GoRecycle.
“Abandoned streetside refrigeration appliances are mainly recycled for their metals, but in most cases their gases are released into the atmosphere, their refrigeration oils are released into the environment,” she lamented.
A network of 250 drop-off points for the collection of obsolete or out of service appliances has been set up by the organization, which specifies that in 2021 more than 83,800 refrigerating and air conditioning appliances were collected.
Appliance retailers are also involved in the recycling process operated by GoRecycle, while the majority of them offer a home collection service to consumers when purchasing a new appliance.
This approach ensures that producers are held accountable at the end of the life of the products they market and makes them accountable for ensuring optimal recovery and reclamation performance,” added Sonia Gagné, President and CEO of RECYC-QUÉBEC. .
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