Lowes

One person’s garbage is another person’s recycled treasure. So, when it’s time to move on to new appliances, find out how to recycle your old ones so they won’t end up in a landfill where they can cause serious problems for the environment.

If you are ready to say good by to your old fridge, then you should be able to find the rules and regulations regarding appliance recycling in your local municipality, using either the National Recycling Coalition’s State Recycling Resources or the Association of State and Territorial Solid Waste Management Office’s (ASTSWMO) State Agency Waste Management Program Links. Your city or town may have an appliance round-up day or a location where you can drop off used appliances.

Following the list of companies which do accept appliances for recycling service, I am about to add one more company who is trying to make our environment cleaner and safer is Lowes, the world’s second largest home improvement retailer. In addition to ordinary waste recycle incentive, Lowes also engaged itself into more serious activity. A few years ago, the company started its ‘career’ in the sphere of appliance recycling.

In 2004, Lowe’s Companies, Inc., and the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), a nonprofit, public service organization dedicated to recycling rechargeable batteries, having integrated RBRC’s recycling program into Lowe’s stores throughout the U.S.

Supported by rechargeable battery and product manufacturers, RBRC’s battery recycling program was unique in industry product stewardship. The Lowe’s/RBRC partnership brought together a leading home improvement retail chain and a non-profit organization making the recycling of rechargeable batteries accessible and convenient for everyone. The program also had a significant impact on the visibility and availability of RBRC’s battery recycling program through the Do-It-Yourself retail channel.

As of 2004, consumers have been able to look for RBRC battery collection boxes in Lowe’s stores across the U.S. Lowe’s to recycle all used portable rechargeable batteries commonly found in cordless electronics products such as: cordless power tools, cordless and cellular phones, two-way radios, laptop computers, electric toothbrushes, camcorders and handheld mini vacuums among many others.

Lowes  joined a long list of national retailers, including RadioShack, Target, Batteries Plus and dozens of others, who support the environment by placing battery collection boxes in their stores. Consumers now drop off their used rechargeable batteries free-of-charge when purchasing.

Lowe’s stores have participated in the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Program since 2004, helping to protect the water supply by keeping batteries out of landfills. Lowe’s collected a company-record 334,000 pounds of rechargeable batteries in 2009, a 17 percent increase over 2008. Our store participation rate also increased, from 88 percent to 93 percent.

The company entered the seventh year of its nationwide pallet recycling program in 2009. Lowe’s recycled 166,349 tons of wood pallets, 147,131 tons of cardboard and 395 tons of shrink wrap. It also moved forward with the appliance recycling pilot program, with 120 stores participating. More than 87 percent of appliances were recycled, collecting 4,624 tons of steel. The company plans to extend the program to all of its stores in 2010.

So far the company’s reducing waste in its communities is at the heart of Lowe’s recycling strategies. With a proactive approach to minimizing the impact, Lowe’s is proud of the progress it has made with the appliance recycling programs.