General Statistics
Fridges are one of the major energy users in Australian homes and are responsible for up to 15 per cent of household greenhouse gas emissions in Australia.
Volume : 2.5 million fridges in Victoria. This means over a third of Victorian homes have more than one fridge
Energy use : 223 megawatt(MW) eq., 1960 gigwatt-hour(GWh) per annum.
Greenhouse : 2848.3 kiloton(KT) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2 - e) 13.7 percent of Victorian Residential Emissions
Annual sales : 162,500 new fridges purchased each year in Victoria (10 percent of households)
Market growth: Average increase in refrigerator sales 2-4 percent per annum
Disposal : 100,000 discarded each year in Victoria, resulting in additional Hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) and Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) release.
Fridge overuse
While new fridges are far more energy efficient than fridges
produced in the 1970's and 1980's, a common occurrence is for
households to buy a new efficient fridge and retain the old
inefficient fridge as a ‘beer fridge’.
Disposal and recycling
Refrigeration has a further impact on global warming due to CFC and
HFC gases contained in refrigerant and insulation. These gases
have a global warming potential (GWP) of 1000 - 8000 times more than
carbon diaoxide (CO2) per kg.
CFC’s are also the main contributor to the hole in the zones
layer
Responsible disposal of old fridges has not been available to Australian households. As a result, broken fridges are often dumped, increasing the risk that they will be damaged and release ozone depleting, global warming gases into the environment.