ADEPT calls for urgent government action on fridge recycling capacity crisis
Local authority place directors have written to Environment Minister Emma Hardy MP, calling for urgent government intervention to tackle an acute national shortage of fridge and freezer recycling capacity.
The Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning & Transport (ADEPT) has warned that increasing numbers of recycling centres across the country are running out of safe storage space and turning residents away.
The shortage stems from several of the UK's small number of specialist fridge recycling facilities being temporarily unavailable due to fires, breakdowns and closures.
The resulting loss of processing capacity means that some Producer Compliance Schemes - the bodies responsible for collecting and recycling old appliances under the WEEE Regulations - have had to suspend collections of fridges and freezers from local authority sites.
As a result, many Household Waste Recycling Centres have exhausted their safe permitted storage capacity, with more expected to follow imminently. Without urgent intervention, the likely consequences are fridge stockpiles, widespread fly tipping and environmental harm.
The problem has been exacerbated by this year's hot weather, which has caused higher numbers of fridges and freezers to fail.
In the letter, ADEPT asks the Minister for three things: clarity on the obligations of Producer Compliance Schemes during plant outages, with funding secured to cover any additional costs falling on local authorities; continued support for the Environment Agency to introduce a simple, fast, risk-based system for consenting temporary storage sites; and government action to invest in additional UK processing capacity, so this situation does not recur.
ADEPT is also calling for an urgent policy review of the WEEE Regulations to ensure true producer responsibility, with producers meeting the full cost of managing end-of-life waste electricals.
Katie Stewart, ADEPT President, said: "This is a system-wide problem that no single organisation can resolve alone. Local authorities want to keep offering residents a safe, convenient disposal point for old fridges and freezers, but without urgent action the risk is an increase in stockpiles, fly tipping and environmental harm.
“With a changing climate, this year's conditions are likely to become the norm, making the failure of refrigerators and freezers a recurring risk, not a one-off event. ADEPT is ready to work with government, the regulator and the compliance schemes to resolve this together."
The letter is available here.
