By Jim Davis

Herald Business Journal

Jaco Environmental, a company that billed itself as one of the largest appliance recycling services in the United States, has shut down, laying off 154 employees in Everett and Bothell.

Jaco Environmental started 26 years ago in Snohomish County. The company, based at 18323 Bothell Everett Highway, had operations in 28 states, according to its website.

A message on the company’s phone system said Jaco ceased operations Nov. 23.

Jaco had apparently canceled rebate checks and appointment pick ups in other states. A story on Mlive.com in Michigan said the company had filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 18.

Jaco recycled more than 400,000 units each year working with local and regional utilities, according to its website. The company said the demand for appliance recycling was projected to grow and double within the next 10 years. The company said that it recycled 95 percent of the components of discarded appliance.

One of the utilities the company worked with was Snohomish County PUD, which had a contract with the company for 10 years from 2004 to 2014.

During the first years of the contract, Jaco recycled up to 10,000 refrigerators and freezers a year for the PUD, said Neil Neroutsos, a spokesman for the utilty.

That number dwindled over the years and the PUD discontinued offering rebates for recycling those appliances last year, because it felt that it had gotten rid of enough of most of the older, less energy efficient appliances, Neroutsos said.

“We were able to take a lot of inefficient refrigerators and freezers off the market,” Neroutsos said.