Space found for 1,000 fridges amid disposal crisis

A council has found space to store nearly 1,000 fridges and freezers following a national disposal crisis of white goods during the summer's heat waves.

Southend-on-Sea City Council asked residents in the summer to hold on to unwanted fridges and freezers as it suspended bulky waste collections.

The Essex authority has continued to accept white goods at its Stock Road recycling centre, which are now being moved onto shipping containers in Leigh-on-Sea before being disposed.

Laura Matthews, from the council's waste contractor Suez, said: "There's around 50 to 60 fridges in each container so we think we've got around 900 to 1,000 fridges and freezers in storage.

"They are stored safely, undercover and there is no chance of any chemicals running off."

This year's multiple heat waves increased the numbers of white goods breaking down and needing to be discarded at specialist sites.

Three specialist processing plants closed earlier this year, which took the number nationally from 10 to seven.

The plants that remained open struggled to operate during the summer's heat, which further contributed to the backlog and councils were advised to hold on to unwanted goods.

Matthews said the Stock Road recycling centre in Southend has space for 200 items.

The appliances are then transported by lorry to be stored in shipping containers at a site in Brunel Road, Leigh-on-Sea.

Matthews added: "We believe the new processor in Dartford will open at the start of next year, it's going to take a couple of months to deal with the backlog."

Essex County Council said it was still accepting fridges and freezers at its recycling sites.

A spokesperson for Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said the office was aware of the "challenges" facing local councils.

The spokesperson added: "We are working closely with the Environment Agency, industry and local authority stakeholders to manage the impact of treatment capacity shortages.

"This includes allowing the storage of fridge and cooling equipment on temporary sites provided certain conditions set out by the Environment Agency are met."

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