Making this world a better place is a goal at Abt. Leaving a small environmental footprint has become a core value of the Abt family and a huge initiative for their business as well. We have an on-site recycling center, energy saving windmills, lighting, and fans. We have even reduced our daily garbage pick-up to three per week, thanks to all the recycling we do.

Natural light pours in from skylights during the day and aiding the natural light is a generator that Abt bought to power the electricity nine hours each day. The natural gas burning generator is an energy conserving power house that saves money while it burns cleaner than the coal used by the local utility company. In the warehouse, we use high-output t-5 florescent lights that are 60% more efficient than standard lighting. 17% of the lights that Abt uses are called pulsar lights. They use considerably less energy than any other normal light. In addition to the generator, we have windmills and solar panels creating energy.

Abt has made the choice to eliminate paper catalogs, in favor of our newsletter and website. This change has helped reduce the amount of C0₂ emissions that we put out. When our HR department communicates with our employees, it is done via email or electronic billbards displayed in employee areas.

All of the store displays are made from recycled material and created in-house. Food is brought in three days a week and Jolane's is on-site so that employees don't have to leave our facility to eat. If an employee would like to get out of the store for lunch, bikes are provided so that driving becomes unnecessary. We have an employee gym on-site; employees can make one trip to work and work out.

Customer education is just as important as employee education. At the customer service counter we have reusable Abt bags for customers. At Abt we have a smart car on display for customers to see and learn from. We also have the movie An Inconvenient Truth playing constantly to further educate all who may have some time to watch. Abt proudly celebrates Earth Day every year with younger customers. It's never too early to start good habits that benefit the environment.

Abt's local delivery and service departments make 9,000 calls per week. From all of those stops, we recycle everything that comes back from the customer's homes and delivery trucks (packing material, old products, etc..). Abt is proud to use bio-diesel in 64 of the diesel trucks in the fleet. We also have end-loaders, Bob Cats, and dump trucks that use bio-diesel. Chuck Metoyer, Director of Fleet Operations, makes sure that all of the new gas vehicles being added to the fleet are E85-ready. Along with fueling Abt's Green Fleet with environmentally sound fuel, Abt sends the used oil, oil filters, coolant, and batteries from all of the trucks to get recycled. The Abt team has thought of so many details when it comes to the maintenance of the Green Fleet. Even the water that washes the trucks is recycled.

Most consumers aren't aware that many electronics and appliances can be harmful to the environment when disposed of improperly. Disposal of electronics and appliances should always be the last resort. The best choices would be to repair, resell, or find an authorized recycling center for your old electronics or appliances.

Instead of throwing away used appliances and electronics, see if there is someone else who could use them. Consider donating your goods to charity, gifting them to family or friends, or selling them on a website like craigslist (www.craigslist.org).

Repairing an old appliance or electronic can keep it out of the junk yard. Environmental impacts may be reduced if you repair instead of recycling or just junking the old unit. Many times someone will take a used appliance off your hands to repair it instead of buying a new one. Abt has a manufacturer authorized repair center in our retail store for Chicagoland customers.

By far, recycling is the best option to dispose of an old appliance or electronic, if you are not repairing or finding a new home for your goods. Abt has an on-site recycling center for most appliances or electronics. We even have an agreement with a handful of companies (Samsung, Sharp, Sony, Toshiba, LG, and Panasonic) for free recycling of their products.

Hours: Thursday through Saturday, 2pm to 7pm
Download Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act Fact Sheet

Illinois EPA Fact Sheet

Our recycling program is very extensive. What used to be a necessary once daily-garbage pick-up now has been reduced to three per week. For a company that has over 1,000 employees and serves hundreds of customers each day in the store, it is a true accomplishment to have such little waste.

We take in wood pallets, old electronics, appliances, cardboard, batteries, plastic, Styrofoam (White Only), and materials brought in by customers. Annually, the Abt recycling center saves 3.5 million pounds of cardboard and paper from going to the local dump, over 240,000 pounds of Styrofoam from going to the landfill, and over 10 million pounds of appliances and 3 million pounds of electronics each year from ending up in the garbage each year.

Styrofoam takes 20,000 years to biodegrade. Instead of just disposing Styrofoam, Abt has a special machine that essentially melts it down into a little pile (making it look like a coiled snake). These Styrofoam coils are bagged and sent to China where they are used again.

Com-Ed has provided an extra incentive over and above the intrinsic benefits to the environment. Currently they are giving rebates for those who responsibly recycle appliances. Abt has been chosen to participate in their rebate program.

All electronics brought into the Abt recycling center by customers can be recycled for free.*

*Recycling is Free for customer drop offs at our recycling center in Glenview. If you require a pickup of your old item, an additional fee (varies by item) will be added.

Proper Disposal of Waste is a practice followed carefully by the recycling center. When it comes to appliances such as refrigerators and air conditioners, even if they are unusable, there will be remaining refrigerants such as Freon. Abt works directly with a company called Jaco Environmental, for the ComEd refrigerators. They remove all the Freon as well as other greenhouse gas emissions. In accordance with the EPA's Responsible Appliance Disposal Program (RAD), Abt works with a collection of partners that recover ozone-depleting chemicals from other old appliances.