Appliance Removal in Mt. Juliet, TN

EPA's Section 608 rules for the last stop in the disposal chain

Federal rules put the refrigerant duty on whoever takes the final step with a refrigerator, freezer or window unit. EPA's Section 608 safe disposal page, last updated March 23, 2026, says "The final person in the disposal chain (such as a scrap metal recycler or landfill owner) is responsible for ensuring that refrigerant is recovered from equipment before its final disposal." The rule covers what 40 CFR 82.152 calls a small appliance: one sealed at the factory with five pounds or less of refrigerant, a definition that names refrigerators, freezers, room and window air conditioners, dehumidifiers and drinking water coolers. Under 40 CFR 82.155(b), that final processor must recover any remaining refrigerant or verify, with a signed statement or a contract, that it was recovered. EPA's page says the statement carries the recoverer's name and address and the date, and 40 CFR 82.155(c) keeps those statements on file for three years.

Recovery is measured: 40 CFR 82.156(b) requires 90 percent of the charge when the compressor works and 80 percent when it does not, using recovery equipment made on or after November 15, 1993. Over all of it sits the venting ban in 40 CFR 82.154(a)(1). That is why every refrigerant appliance we haul goes to a recycler that recovers its refrigerant.

What an old refrigerator holds and what becomes of it

An old refrigerator is mostly metal, with refrigerant, oil and foam that have to be dealt with before the metal is separated. EPA's appliance disposal page, last updated July 8, 2026, says refrigerators, freezers, window air conditioners and dehumidifiers hold "refrigerant and oil in the compressor, and the blowing agent contained in polyurethane foam insulation." EPA's September 2017 guidance says refrigerant-containing white goods, its name for appliances such as these, generally contain 8 to 12 ounces of refrigerant. An October 2010 EPA briefing slide on a refrigerator made before 1995 lists 0.5 pounds of CFC-12 refrigerant, 1.0 pound of CFC foam insulation, 0.5 pounds of used oil that may be contaminated, and 140 pounds of metal, 20 pounds of plastic and 3 pounds of glass; those are 2010 slide figures for a pre-1995 unit.

EPA's May 2025 transfer station guide adds that capacitors made before 1979 used PCBs and that mercury turns up in older freezer lids and washer tilt switches. EPA's Responsible Appliance Disposal (RAD) program, a voluntary partnership, states the federal baseline that "all refrigerant be recovered prior to dismantling or disposal," with mercury, used oil and PCBs properly managed; RAD partners also recover the foam, which "contains substances that are potent GHGs." The American Iron and Steel Institute puts steel at 75 percent of a typical household appliance's weight, and, from a study for the Steel Recycling Institute and the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, reports 79.0 pounds of steel in a top/bottom refrigerator and 152.5 pounds in a side-by-side.

County, City and State rules that apply before the recycler

Before an appliance reaches a recycler, a County allowance, a City ordinance and two State statutes can apply. Wilson County's centers take two appliances per visit, but no County page found says whether refrigerant must be removed, or a tag or fee paid, before a refrigerator or air conditioner is dropped off. The City of Mt.

Juliet's Code section 16-21 reads: "Refrigerators and similar equipment not in operation shall not be discarded abandoned or stored on premises without first removing the doors." Tennessee Code section 39-17-103 makes it a Class B misdemeanor to leave a refrigerator or other airtight container of one and a half cubic feet or more, with a latching door or lid, outside a dwelling or in an unoccupied building where children can reach it. The State's scrap metal law reaches air conditioners: under Tennessee Code section 62-9-107, a dealer may not pay cash for an air conditioner evaporator coil or condenser, or pay anything at the time of the sale, and only agents or employees of the heating and air businesses the statute lists may sell those parts for scrap. A violation is "a Class A misdemeanor punishable by fine only." In practice, take the doors off a dead refrigerator that has to wait on your property, and do not plan on cash for an old condenser at a scrap yard.