Research by letsrecycle.com has found that this is because the Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) regulation has thrown the refurbishment sector into a state of crisis. The ending of take-back schemes in November means that end-of-life fridges are no longer collected in a condition suitable for refurbishment. And householders are facing a storage crisis, while they wait to have their fridges removed by the council.
One Kingston-upon-Thames resident had to wait six weeks for the council to collect her fridge. And while last year, the fridge would have been quickly transported to a retailer distribution centre where it had a fair chance of being recycled, six weeks in the garden has meant that the fridge has rusted and is now not worth refurbishing.
But residents in Kingston-upon-Thames who phone up today will have to wait May 17 to have their fridge or freezer removed.
Ken Lawson, recycling officer, for Kingston-upon-Thames said that the council cannot afford to continue its weekly collection of fridges and freezers beyond February and so householders will have to wait until May.
Trapped
Mr Lawson recommends that the householder should ask the retailer to take the old fridge away with proof of address, or borrow a car to take it to the civic amenity site. He added: “We tell residents to remove the magnetic strip so they are not air tight and children can't get trapped in them.”
The council is not storing fridges for long periods of time as it has a contract with Michael Baker Recycling who is currently taking the council's waste fridges to Germany. The first load was shipped over last week and when Michael Baker has its first plant up and running in the UK, the fridges will be taken there.
Colin Crooks, chief executive of training organisation Renew Trust, which refurbishes white goods returned to Comet, warned that fridges are now being taken to civic amenity sites where they are treated as waste, left outside to rust and so become non-repairable.
Mr Crooks told letsrecycle.com that when fridges are received through a take-back scheme there is a much higher chance of refurbishing them as they have only been moved twice – from house to delivery platform and then from delivery platform to refurbishment centre. He said: “They are only moved twice and don't go outside. They are stored upright because they are transported with new fridges.”
Smashed
Last month, Renew took an engineer to Gateshead civic amenity site and from 300 fridges only four were assessed as being suitable for refurbishing. Mr Crooks said: “It took a long time to go round and assess and judging from our data, 20% were potentially refurbishable but have been smashed up.”
Mr Crooks explained that 80% of the value in white goods is because they are aesthetically pleasing. He said: “Some are too old, some are too rare but in the main we decide whether to refurbish from their external condition. 25% of fridges are potentially refurbishable.” Although Renew is still getting other white goods through the scheme, fridges accounted for 30% of the company's non-grant income. And repairing fridges constituted a valuable part of the training programme.
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