DTE collects 1,000 old fridges with its own Cash-for-Clunkers program

DTE Energy is tearing apart more than 1,000 old refrigerators it has collected this summer as a way of making Metro Detroit more energy efficient.

The downtown Detroit-based utility started its own version of Cash for Clunkers earlier this summer but focused it on old appliances instead of cars. Old appliances, especially those old refrigerators keeping beers cold in the garage, are lacking when it comes to energy efficiency -- to put it nicely. Older refrigerators often use three times as much electricity compared to newer models.

The appliance recycling program offers DTE Energy's customers $50 for their old refrigerators and freezers. DTE even hauls them away for free. The check arrives in the mail 4-6 weeks later.

"If you call us to pick up one of those and have a working airconditioner or dehumidifer, you can give it to us and we'll give you $20," says Eileen Dixon, spokeswoman for DTE Energy.

These appliances are shipped to DTE Energy's new facility in Livonia where they are dismantled and properly disposed. About 30,000 old refrigerators and freezers are expected to be taken apart there, creating 20 new jobs over the next three years.

To schedule pick up of a refrigerator or freezer, call (866) 796-0512 or click here. visit the company's Web site.

Source: Eileen Dixon, spokeswoman for DTE Energy
Writer: Jon Zemke