But, responsibility for fridges piled up in the Oldham area is still subject to debate.
While the UK is no longer facing a “fridge mountain” crisis nationally, the collapse of Manchester city council's former fridge contractor Britannia Import Export has left behind thousands of waste fridges in Oldham and Trafford Park.
”The Agency is currently in the process of discussing this matter with the liquidator, landowners and various regional bodies in order to find an acceptable solution for disposing of the remaining fridges.“
– Environment Agency
Britannia Import Export went into liquidation this year following what the Environment Agency describes as “commercially questionable decisions”. Manchester city council terminated its contract with the company in January, following legal action taken by the Agency against Britannia (see letsrecycle.com story).
Meanwhile, the thousands of fridges at the company's two sites have been left to be dealt with by the sites' new owners and the Environment Agency. Manchester Waste Disposal Authority and Manchester city council have both told letsrecycle.com that the fridges are not their responsibility.
Brixton Estates, the property developer that owns the massive Trafford Park Industrial Estate, has purchased two of Britannia's four sites among its land acquisitions in the Manchester area. The company has put out a tender for the disposal of the fridges, for which three companies are understood to have been short listed.
Brixton believes there are about 91,000 fridges on the two sites at Twinning Road and Millington Road in Trafford.
Oldham
However, there is still some debate over the responsibility for the remaining fridges currently being held at two sites in Oldham.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, a spokeswoman for the Environment Agency said that it had ensured that no more fridges were added to the original stockpiles.
The spokeswoman said: “The Environment Agency's role is that of a regulator. It therefore does not have the responsibility, duty or funding to clear the fridges which are stockpiled as a result of bad business decisions by a disposal company.
“The Agency is acting as an 'honest broker', working with other parties in a bid to get the stockpiles cleared. The Agency is currently in the process of discussing this matter with the liquidator, landowners and various regional bodies in order to find an acceptable solution for disposing of the remaining fridges,” she added.
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