Why has the NSW Government funded a program to buyback second fridges?
Almost a third of Sydney households have a second fridge. These old fridges are big energy users, consuming up to three times the energy of new fridges. While a second fridge may seem handy, the electricity costs averaging $190 a year are often hard to justify. Old and lightly used second fridges also place an unnecessary load on NSW electricity infrastructure and cause unnecessary greenhouse gas emissions. The average household can save eight tones of greenhouse gas emissions by getting rid of the second fridge. The Fridge Buyback Program aims to reduce NSW’s greenhouse gas emissions by in excess of 152,000 tonnes by collecting 19,000 second fridges over the next 3 years. Old fridges are also a source of ozone depleting refrigerant gasses – which are greenhouse gases as well. Fridge Buyback degasses all fridges and environmentally destroys the refrigerants collected. The degassed fridges are subsequently taken for metals recycling.
