Junk appliances can be a hassle to dispose of, but Riverside County has some options. Anza Valley Outlook/Diane Sieker photo
When that faithful refrigerator or freezer finally refuses to cool properly, it is time to think about purchasing a new appliance and disposing of the old one. But California and federal laws are very strict regarding the discarding and recycling of these appliances.According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, roughly 9 million refrigerators and freezers, 6 million window air conditioning units and nearly 1 million dehumidifiers are disposed of each year on average nationwide.Almost all the components of each unit can be recycled, but the refrigerants used pose an environmental hazard that consumers need to be aware of when it is time to discard these non-working appliances.Some local scrap yards can acce
