How to Dispose of a Used Room Air Conditioner
Room air conditioners contain chemicals that can contaminate a landfill and lead to serious environmental and public health problems.
There are appliance-recycling programs in many Canadian communities. Consult your Yellow Pages™ or call your municipality to find out what local programs exist and how appliances are collected. A municipal hazardous-waste depot can properly dispose of your room air conditioner.
Never send an old air conditioner to a landfill site.
All refrigerants need to be recovered by qualified service personnel and reclaimed by specially trained technicians for recycling. In addition to the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in refrigerants, some older units also contain mercury and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC). In almost all cases, older room air conditioners can't be refilled with newer refrigerants.
Manufacturers of all new air conditioners sold in Canada and the United States must rely on refrigerants that meet increasingly strict environmental standards.