Worcester City Council warns fly-tippers as more fridges 'left out in the cold' » Local Government » 24dash.com

In the past six months more than 100 old refrigerators have been abandoned across Worcester and the bill for collection is falling on to the council tax payer.

According to Worcester City Council, the current price of scrap metal appears to have resulted in an increase of unregulated collectors visiting households across the city asking for unwanted metal.

Whereas most items can be recycled easily, refrigerators need special treatment due to the harmful gases inside the fridge which keep the food cold.

Those gases result in the thinning the ozone layer in the atmosphere, which is a major environmental problem and as such international regulations are in place to ensure that these gases are removed from fridges before they are finally put into a landfill.
 
“Unscrupulous scrap collectors appear to have resorted to fly-tipping the fridges, once the valuable metal has been removed”, said John Bond, Worcester City Councils Environmental Protection Officer. 

“It is up to householders to check whether contractors they hire to remove any waste from their property, are registered waste carriers. If you hire contractors to remove waste from your property, you should ask them for their waste carrier number.”

In order to combat the problem, the city council is now able to fine householders who have not taken care to ensure that their waste is passed onto an authorised person.

To check if a waste carrier is registered, contact the Environment Agency by telephoning 0870 506 506 or go online at www.environment-agency.gov.uk