Council fridge disposal suspended over backlog

Fly-tipping fears are mounting after another council temporarily suspended the disposal of fridges and freezers at its recycling centre.

North Tyneside Council has followed other local authorities across the UK in suspending the collections because of national capacity issues affecting the safe and legal disposal of the appliances.

Residents in South Tyneside and County Durham can still take fridges and freezers to their local centres or arrange a bulky waste collection.

Conservative councillor Liam Bones has written to North Tyneside's elected Labour mayor to raise concerns that the suspension could lead to an increase in people dumping the white goods illegally. The council has apologised.

"I appreciate that the shortage of specific processing capacity is a national issue and that the council cannot control disruption elsewhere in the waste treatment network," he said.

"However, I am concerned about the practical consequences for North Tyneside residents and what contingency arrangements were in place to deal with a disruption of this nature."

Director of environment at North Tyneside Council, Samantha Dand, said the suspension would be "frustrating" for residents and apologised for the inconvenience.

"This is not a decision we have taken lightly, but it is necessary while capacity pressures within the national processing network continue," she said.

"With processing capacity constrained nationally, we are approaching the point where we cannot legally accept any additional fridges or freezers until the existing stock has been moved on for treatment.

"Unlike most household waste and recycling materials, fridges and freezers can only be processed at a limited number of specialist treatment facilities in the UK."

Dand urged residents to store unwanted appliances safely at home until the suspension is lifted and asked people buying replacement appliances to consider retailer take-back schemes.

Durham County Council's head of environment, James Gilchrist, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the local authority was "aware of the national issue" and was working to ensure residents can continue to dispose of freezers.

South Tyneside Council confirmed its residents can still take a fridge and/or freezer to its recycling village or arrange a bulky waste collection.

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