Broken fridges and freezers pile up after heatwaves

A backlog of broken fridges and freezers has built up following the summer heatwave. Dozens of local authorities have been forced to stop collecting fridges from homes and even recycling centres because of a logjam in storage centres during the last six months. Bradford, Gloucestershire, Norfolk, Durham and Nottinghamshire are among the 26 councils that have temporarily stopped collecting the appliances. The problem has been exacerbated by three of the 10 plants that can safely dismantle the appliances shutting down in the last few months.

The number of broken and discarded fridges and freezers follows the hottest summer on record . The Met Office said this year’s average daily maximum temperature of 21.3C beat the previous record of 21C, set 50 years ago. The higher temperatures saw fridges at home failing, as well as those in supermarkets and shops. Fridges and freezers can harm the environment if not disposed of safely, meaning they require specialist dismantling as a result of the gases they contain.

Some of the 26 councils have had to use temporary storage facilities, while others have asked residents to hold off disposing of them. Jon Hubbard, chairman of the Local Government Association’s neighbourhoods committee, said England was facing a “system failure with fridge recycling”. He told The Times: “The system has always operated with very little contingency and with three facilities out of action, there simply isn’t enough spare capacity to cope.

Councils are on the customer-facing side of that failure and we understand that levels of complaints have increased since the disruption started. “We want to help residents recycle their fridges, but councils cannot move them further up the recycling chain because we don’t control that part of the system. “This isn’t simply a matter of finding somewhere to put them. Fridges are treated as hazardous waste so need to be stored in a safe and environmentally responsible way.”

A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ( Defra ) said: “Not being able to dispose of your fridge or freezer, or facing delays to collections, is understandably frustrating. That is why the waste minister has written to producers making clear we expect them to take all reasonable steps to resolve this quickly. “We recognise the pressures local authorities are facing and are working closely with them, the Environment Agency, and industry to manage the impact of capacity shortages, including allowing temporary storage sites and developing long term solutions so this doesn’t happen again.”