Law change needed to send old fridges for recycling in Guernsey

An increasing number of fridges are piling up at Guernsey's recycling depot.

The island has been unable to export some older models for more than five years because of changes to international legislation, and the units have been stockpiled at Longue Hougue ever since. Tina Norman-Ross Recycling Officer, States of Guernsey said: "The newer style fridges can be processed on island and they go for scrap. The older style which have got certain gasses in cannot be scrapped on island. At the moment we're waiting for a change in legislation to be able to export those again."

Due to a change in international legislation, export of fridges and other cooling units which contain ozone depleting substances was suspended in May 2017.

Sarah Robinson, Operations Manager at Guernsey Waste said: "We currently have around five to six thousand fridges to be dealt with.

Legislation is being changed at the moment. There’s a big process to go through with lots of parties involved but progress is being made so we are optimistic that within a year they will be able to be exported to the UK for specialist recovery.

As soon as we can export again it will take some time to clear but hopefully within the next year, I'd like to see at least the first lot starting to be moved."

The Guernsey Annual Waste Management Report Work states that work is ongoing to update Guernsey’s legislation to resolve this issue, in consultation with the States’ Law Officers and DEFRA in the UK.