The 1st January 2002 saw the introduction of new European Regulations governing the release of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS). EC Regulation no. 2037/2000 of 29th June 2001 requires that from 1 January 2002, all CFCs and HCFCs must be recovered from equipment such as fridges and freezers prior to their disposal.
CFCs and HCFC are contained both within the refrigeration circuits of fridges and freezers an within the foam insulation. Generally, this applies to equipment manufactured prior to 1995 as more recent equipment will have been manufactured without the use of CFCs or HCFCs.
What does this mean for you?
This could impact on you in two ways:
As a householder, you may purchase a new fridge in
the expectation that the retailer will take away the old one. For a
time, all retailers stopped such ‘take back’ schemes but the advent of
the WEEE regulations and the steady development of reprocessing
facilities for fridges and freezers has resulted in many schemes being
reinstated. If you find yourself in the unfortunate position of having
to dispose of a fridge or freezer, from your domestic property,
yourself, the most likely disposal option will be via your local
Council. This can be achieved either by arranging a collection – often
at cost – or taking the fridge to a local Civic Amenity Site where they
should be accepted without charge.
As a business, you might require to dispose of
refrigeration equipment as part of a clearout or because a unit has
broken or become unserviceable. Such equipment, if containing CFCs or
HCFCs will be hazardous waste and should not be mixed with non-hazardous
waste. Additionally, under the ODS regulations, it is illegal to
dispose of such items to scrap or to landfill. Fridges, freezers and
commercial refrigeration equipment will therefore not be removed by
Biffa unless separately contained and, in order to allow time for
compliant disposal arrangements to be made, through prior agreement.
- Transform - The WEEE Compliance Scheme operated by Biffa
