Fridges and freezers can be taken to Warwickshire recycling centres again

Warwickshire residents can once again dispose of unwanted fridges and freezers at Household Waste Recycling Centres, following a temporary suspension caused by limited storage capacity.

Warwickshire County Council has confirmed that residents can now take unwanted fridges and freezers to Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) across the county.

The service was temporarily suspended on 5 August after around 1,000 cooling appliances built up across council sites, pushing storage capacity to its limit.

The backlog was caused by a national shortage of capacity to recycle and process fridges, freezers and other cooling appliances. Recycling infrastructure across the UK has been affected by facility fires, plant closures and limited storage space.

Since the suspension, the county council says it has made significant progress in clearing the backlog through increased collection efforts.

It has also worked with the Environment Agency, which has agreed to relax certain storage requirements. This has allowed additional outside space to be used, increasing storage capacity for fridges and freezers at recycling centres.

However, capacity remains limited, and residents are being encouraged to consider alternative disposal options where possible.

The county council has also told district and borough councils that they can resume their own fridge collection services or provide collection dates, depending on local arrangements.

Residents are being warned that the lack of a booking system means capacity could reach its limit again. If that happens, collections could be temporarily paused in the future.

The council is therefore asking people who can safely keep an unwanted fridge or freezer stored for a little longer to do so, helping to manage pressure on recycling centre capacity.

Councillor Darren Cheshire, Warwickshire County Council's Portfolio Holder for Environment, Heritage and Culture, thanked residents for their patience and cooperation during the suspension.

He said the council had seen very few fridges deposited at recycling centres since the August announcement and that fly-tipping had not become a significant issue.

The council says the decision not to introduce a dedicated booking system was made to avoid adding further administrative requirements for residents.