The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently announced award recipients at its first annual Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) Program Leadership Awards Ceremony, a virtual event held October 21. Of the 14 partners receiving awards, Pennsylvania Power and Light (PPL) Electric Utilities of Allentown, Pennsylvania, was presented the RAD Champion Award for outstanding program achievements in appliance recycling.
Partners in EPA’s RAD program commit to collecting and disposing of old appliances such as refrigerators and freezers, window air conditioners, and dehumidifiers, using best environmental practices. While complying with EPA laws and regulations on the recovery of refrigerant, used oil, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), partners have also committed to recovering appliance foam, promoting the recycling of all durable goods, and the permanent disposal of old, inefficient appliances to save energy.
As a result of their commitments, RAD partners have achieved significant environmental benefits since the program first launched in 2006, including reducing emissions of ozone-depleting substances by nearly 2,000 tons.
“Our RAD partners have increased appliance recycling by using best practices to reduce emissions, save energy and build partnerships in our communities,” said EPA Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Cosmo Servidio. “I am proud to recognize the positive impact our partners have on the environment as we add PPL Electric Utilities to this exceptional group.”
PPL Received this 2020 RAD Champion Award for “outstanding performance in foam recovery to avoid emissions of ozone-depleting substances.” This included:
- Starting their appliance recycling program in 2009 (refrigerators, freezers, room ACs).
- Adding dehumidifiers in 2017.
- Having recycled over 65,500 units to date.
- Continuing an extensive customer awareness and engagement program, including newsletters, bill inserts, website banners, billboards, TV ads, social media messaging, hosting appliance recycling and food drive events in partnership with local Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, attending community events and participating in national ENERGY STAR programs like “Flip Your Fridge.”
- Actively highlighting and promoting their energy efficiency rebate and incentive programs to encourage customer participation to save energy and money.
The RAD Leadership Award winners were honored in three categories: the RAD Champion Award, the RAD Program Growth Award, and the RAD Ambassador Award.
- The RAD Program Growth Award, which recognizes the top three RAD partners with the greatest annual increase in units processed, was given to Butler County Recycling & Solid Waste District (Hamilton, Ohio), National Grid (Waltham, Mass.), and New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (Trenton, N.J.).
- The RAD Ambassador Award was presented to Consumers Energy (Jackson, Mich.), who demonstrated exemplary partner practices, including launching an innovative program to optimize their appliance pickup routes for the collection of old refrigerated appliances. In addition, Consumers Energy partnered with the local chapter of Habitat for Humanity to increase awareness of appliance recycling and to raise funding support for Habitat for Humanity.