Note 17:          Commitments and Contingencies

Contracts:  We have entered into material contracts with three appliance manufacturers. Under the agreements there are no minimum purchase commitments; however, we have agreed to indemnify the manufacturers for certain claims, allegations or losses with respect to appliances we sell.

Litigation:

In February 2012, various individuals commenced a class action lawsuit against Whirlpool Corporation (“Whirlpool”) and various distributors of Whirlpool products, including Sears, The Home Depot, Lowe’s and us, alleging certain appliances Whirlpool sold through its distribution chain, which includes us, were improperly designated with the ENERGY STAR® qualification rating established by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency.  The claims against us include breach of warranty claims, as well as various state consumer protection claims. The amount of the claim is, yet, undetermined.  Whirlpool has offered to fully indemnify and defend its distributors in this lawsuit, including us, and has engaged legal counsel to defend itself and the distributors. We are monitoring Whirlpool’s defense of the claims and believe the possibility of a material loss is remote. 

AMTIM Capital Inc. (“AMTIM”) provided management and sales services in respect of our recycling services in Canada and was paid pursuant to agreements between AMTIM and us. A dispute arose between AMTIM and us with respect to the calculation of amounts due to AMTIM pursuant to the agreements. In a lawsuit filed in the province of Ontario on March 29, 2011, AMTIM claimed a discrepancy in the calculation of fees due to AMTIM by us more than $1.6 million. On December 9, 2011 the United States District Court for the District of Minnesota issued a declaratory default judgment to the effect that our method of calculating of the amounts due to AMTIM is correct. Although the Ontario action continues, and its outcome is uncertain, we believe that no further amounts are due under the terms of these agreements and we will continue to defend our position relative to this lawsuit.

We are party from time to time to ordinary course disputes that we do not believe to be material or have merit. We intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these ordinary course disputes.