Heat waves strain UK fridge disposal as 26 councils halt collections
Three processing plant closures combined with summer heat leave England and Wales unable to safely recycle broken appliances.
What to know
- Heat waves have triggered a surge in broken fridges and freezers nationwide, overwhelming recycling infrastructure already strained by three major processing plant closures in 12 months.
- Twenty-six councils have suspended white goods collections; remaining plants cannot operate above 30°C, forcing the UK to export fridges to Europe for processing.
- The LGA is demanding the government force manufacturers to fund disposal and storage costs while building new domestic processing capacity; only one new UK plant is planned for 2027.
“Our priority is to minimise disruption to household collection or proper disposal of fridges and other cooling equipment, and we are pushing producers of these items to take all necessary steps to achieve this and resolve any collection delays.”
Department for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) spokesman, Government spokesman · BBC
Local Government Association (LGA) Council representative bodyCouncillor Arooj Shah LGA Neighbourhoods committee chairDepartment for Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Government environment departmentJacob Hayler Executive director, Environmental Services AssociationGraeme Milne Chief executive, Ecogenesys
The record 1 articles and posts · last 26 days
What people are saying 4 voices from 1 site · verbatim
- Aug 30
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This is true. I fell for it. It was one of the most expensive machines I ever bought and it was also the worst, biggest heap of shite I had ever bought!
- Aug 29
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My parents have a refrigerator that's been going for over 40 years. In the last 12 years. I bought three refrigerators. They last until about a year outside of warranty.
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What are some of your notable successes or failures in terms of repairing your own appliances?
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Massive efficiency gain in fridges over the past 10-20 means we generally don't want people using the same model in that period vs upgrading. Now fridges are very efficient we may want people to keep existing ones though.