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10 - The Oakville Beaver Weekend, Saturday January 26, 2008 www.oakvillebeaver.com Old refrigerators use more power Continued from page 9 "A 15-year-old refrigerator can use up to 10 times as much hydro as a new Energy Star efficient one," said Mark Davison, Processing Manager with Arca Canada. "The program is about getting rid of those, so what we're picking up is something someone is replacing. We have a call centre; people call into the number that is advertised; we set up the appointment. We have about 35 crews all across Ontario and they go to the homes and get the appliances. The old beer fridge in the garage is the worst offender." Even though Davison said this is a slow time of year for appliance processing, the Arca Canada facility is filled with hundreds of refrigerators and freezers lined up on conveyor belts as they are readied for their final date with a crusher at the far side of the facility. As refrigerators in use 50 to 60 years ago contain sulfur dioxide, an extremely toxic chemical compound, one of the first tasks Arca Canada employees must go through is making this substance environmentally safe. "We have a process to get rid of the sulfur dioxide. We run it through a plastic solution, "The old beer fridge in the garage is the worst offender." Mark Davison, Processing Manager, Arca Canada which turns it into sodium bisulfite, which is used in water purification plants," said Davison. Oil and Freon inside the refrigerators/freezers are also drained and destroyed with the Freon sent to Alberta for special neutralization. Davison said that since August the amount of Freon the Oakville Arca Canada facility has destroyed is equivalent to the weight of an African elephant. After all of these environmentally hazardous chemicals and components are removed, the refrigerators, freezers and air conditioners are crushed and recycled. "A lot of the plastic is made into flower pots for greenhouses," said Davison. "The aluminum is made into many different products. The steel from the refrigerators primarily gets turned into rebarb for cement. The steel from the fiberglass units is made into coil stock and used in automobiles. Over 98 per cent of the refrigerator is recycled and is used for something worth while." Davison said every refrigerator Arca Canada takes out of commission has the same environmental impact of taking two cars off the road for a year. With Arca Canada processing around 502 refrigerators a day between August and November it quickly becomes clear just how environmentally valuable this program can be. "If the foam from a refrigerator goes into a landfill instead of here, each pound of foam gives off one cubic tonne of CO2 gas when it deteriorates and each fridge contains about six pounds of foam," said Davison. To date the province-wide program has surpassed its retrieval goal taking more than 50,000 energy-wasting refrigerators, freezers and room air conditioners out of service. Oakville Hydro Electricity Distribution Inc. contributed to this amazing total through extensive promotion of the Great Refrigerator Roundup See Program page 14 BUSINESS WEBSITE VIDEO TALKING CHARACTER $69/00 . MONTH* Sh owcase Your Business. Reach New Cus tome r s . Links to Local Sales & Specials Local Video Guide Complete Local Business Directory Shopping Mall Guide Local Web Guide For more information call 310-GOLD or email sales@goldbook.ca *with the purchase of any Gold Book product.