I had to replace my refrigerator recently after 12 years. I thought refrigerators were supposed to last forever, like the 1940 one, but it turns out mine had a design life of only 8 years, and this is normal now. (I may remember those exact numbers wrong, but it was short.) Replacing something that big that frequently can not be good for the environment.

I imagine the asbestos is sealed inside? Don't chew the fridge.

Also old fridges inefficiency mostly comes from two things. The seals on the door, which you can replace, and 2nd the compressors are less efficient. Why are they less efficient? Mostly because they use thicker oil which causes more drag. However, that's partly why they last so long. Oil in modern compressors looks like water.