Just ordered a new large appliance and looking to find a happy home for your old appliance at the end of its life? Luckily, if you live in BC, you can easily recycle these products easily thanks to the Major Appliance Recycling Roundtable (MARR).
Created in 2012, this not-for-profit stewardship agency provides recycling services to help recover important components and materials from appliances and help you make the responsible choice for your end-of-life large appliances.
But how does this affect the way you recycle large appliances? We spoke with Michael Zarbl, Executive Director of MARR, to explain how the system works, how you can recycle large appliances with the agency’s help, and the positive impact you make by recycling your large appliances properly.
Why should you recycle large appliances?
MARR
Large appliances like refrigerators and washing machines contain valuable materials (such as metals, aluminum, and copper) that can be harvested once it has hit the end-of-life stage and used to make new products.
Recycling large appliances means reducing the energy consumption to manufacture those same appliances by reintegrating recycled components and cutting down on the demand for new materials.
There are also hazardous substances in these appliances, like mercury, PCB capacitors, and ozone-depleting substances (ODS) — meaning the improper disposal of these appliances will release these harmful substances into the environment, which is a huge health and safety hazard to our ecosystems.
Fortunately, there are certified technicians at MARR collection sites who can safely remove these substances before recycling, ensuring anything toxic gets disposed of properly. “After this crucial and mandatory step, large appliances can be sold to metal recyclers to be recycled,” says Zarbl.
Properly recycling large appliances helps divert waste from landfills and keeps BC greener for years to come.
How to recycle large appliances effectively
MARR
You’d think, with such large appliances, there must be a fee to drop them off, right? Well, while there used to be a fee, Zarbl ensures that is no longer the case thanks to MARR. They collaborate one-on-one with over 200 locations throughout BC to provide free drop-off service.
“The work and efforts put forth by MARR over the past decade have enabled the removal of drop-off charges,” Zarbl tells Daily Hive.
But, contrary to popular belief, your large appliances should be intact before dropping them off — which means you shouldn’t take it upon yourself to dismantle them or remove those harmful chemicals!
“Some people think that they should cut the lines and let the gasses out before taking it to a recycling site, on the contrary, refrigerative gases, potentially harmful to both the environment and people, should be left intact. Once dropped off at a recycling site, a certified professional technician will handle the gases in a secure and safe process.” says Zarbl.
The impact of recycling large appliances on the environment
MARR
In 2023 alone, MARR recycled over 390,000 units and removed over 120,000 units of ODS gas and other halocarbons.
On top of this, MARR works with First Nations communities to help remove large appliances from their lands — with 35 large appliance collection events planned for 2024 so far.
“In many rural and remote areas, communities are best served by holding end-of-life appliances collection events.” These rural collection events have helped recycle over 11,000 large appliances left unattended.
“MARR has established processing standards all sites must comply with, assuring the improvement of the environmental practices associated with the recycling of end-of-life large appliances,” says Zarbl.
Give your large appliances a proper send-off by dropping them off for free at the MARR recycling location nearest you.