[June 14, 2011]

From Filter to Fridge, GE Can Recycle it All

(NYSE:GE) GE Appliances & Lighting is once again leading the way with the announcement of its new refrigeration water filter recycling program, the first of its kind among appliance manufacturers.

GE Appliances' new refrigeration water filter recycling program recycles 100 percent of the refrigerator water filter. (Photo: GE)

If you drink water that comes from your refrigerator's dispensing system instead of plastic bottles, you're already helping keep plastic out of our landfills. Now GE can help you take that one step further by recycling your old GE water filters and you won't have to spend an extra dime, or haul anything to a recycling center.

The program is designed to recycle 100 percent of the refrigerator water filter. The plastic part of the product is "pelletized" and re-used. And the charcoal filter is re-used in landfill liners that help prevent substances from leaching into local water supplies.

"Given the hundreds of thousands of GE refrigerator water filters currently in service, GE feels a responsibility to help consumers in minimizing their environmental impact by providing a simple method to responsibly recycle their used GE water filters," says Laura Edwards, GE parts sales and marketing operations manager.

When you order a replacement water filter from GE,¹ you'll receive a free recycling kit for your used GE water filter. The kit includes a pre-paid mailing label and envelope to make replacing your water filter even easier. Changing the filter every six months helps maintain clean drinking water from your refrigerator's water and ice dispensing system. Applicable filters include models MWF, MSWF, MXRC and GSWF.

Other Recycling Firsts

• GE is the first appliance manufacturer to partner with the Environmental Protection Agency on its Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) program with a focus on refrigeration recycling best practices.
• GE's new recycling initiative will reduce landfill waste by 85 percent.²
GE is the only full-line appliance manufacturer in the U.S. to adopt a foam-blowing agent known as cyclopentane that will be used as part of the insulating process in the manufacturing of its top-freezer refrigerators in Decatur, Ala., which will reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the foam-blowing process by 99 percent compared to the foam-blowing agent it replaces.³
• GE is expanding its ecomagination^SM commitment and will dramatically reduce the GHG emissions it produces by converting other U.S. refrigerator manufacturing facilities to cyclopentane within the next few years. GE plans to convert the refrigeration insulation manufacturing process at its side-by-side refrigerator Center of Excellence in Bloomington, Ind., and its bottom-freezer refrigerator Center of Excellence in Louisville, Ky., to cyclopentane by 2014.
• "GE Appliances & Lighting is looking at every aspect of environmental stewardship for our appliances - from manufacturing processes to more responsible product end-of-life management," said Paul Surowiec, general manager, refrigeration, GE Appliances & Lighting. "We also offer hundreds of ENERGY STAR (News - Alert)®-qualified models to ensure our appliances deliver efficiency and cost savings to consumers throughout the appliance's life."
• Additionally, GE was recently awarded the ENERGY STAR "Sustained Excellence" Award for the sixth straight year, recognizing GE's commitment to delivering high-efficiency products to consumers.