A fridge or freezer is not general waste. The cooling circuit contains refrigerant gases, and the insulation foam in older units contains blowing agents that are powerful greenhouse gases. Both have to be recovered before the unit is scrapped.
That means two things in practice. First, a fridge cannot go in a skip with general waste, and councils will usually refuse one at a household waste site unless it is booked separately. Second, anyone taking it away has to be able to send it to a licensed treatment facility that extracts the gases.
What can go wrong:
- The unit is left on the pavement, the gas is never recovered, and the householder is traced by the serial number.
- A man with a van takes it and it is sold on or dumped, so the F-gas is released and the fine lands on you.
- A landlord swaps units between flats and loses track of which one was disposed of, and cannot produce a transfer note.
The safe route is the same as any other waste: a registered carrier, a Waste Transfer Note, and a destination that treats the unit properly.
We take fridges alongside furniture disposal in Hampstead and rubbish removal in Clapham, and we handle larger white-goods loads - kitchen rip-outs, office kitchens, appliance rooms - as part of an office clearance in Camden Town.
If a unit is still working, tell us before collection. We will try to rehome it rather than scrap it, which is cheaper and better.
