The great fridge recycling fiasco
As plants miss targets, old devices give out as much harmful gas as 100,000 cars
MILLIOnS of fridges sent for recycling are still releasing damaging gases, causing pollution equal to that of 100,000 family cars, a study says.
Almost half of the emissions – known as blowing agent – are believed to have escaped from old machines over two years.
On buying a new fridge, consumers typically pay retailers to collect and legally dispose of their old one at special plants.
Recyclers are meant to break up the old units and capture 95 per cent of the emissions. But most appear to miss their targets, with some capturing only a quarter of the gases, according to the data analysis supplied by the plants to the Environment Agency (EA).
The full emissions figure is probably higher as around one million fridges a year are dumped in unlicensed plants or fly-tipped.
Last night green campaigners called for an investigation and the chair of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee pledged action.
Blowing agent is used to create bubbles in the insulating foams which keep fridges and freezers cold. But these gases, if released from older fridges with CFCs, contribute to climate change at a greater rate than equivalent amounts of CO2 and also damage the ozone layer.
Since 2002 it has been illegal to dispose of fridges in a way that releases most of these emissions. Instead, they must be recycled by specialists. But in 2017 just 51 per cent of the theoretically available blowing agent was captured across eight licensed plants, according to the study by a global sustainability consultancy Anthesis.
In 2018 only 59 per cent was captured, meaning the equivalent of 30,000 patio heaters worth of CO2 escaped into the atmosphere. Over two years that equated to releasing 418,660 tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, or the emissions of 100,000 family cars.
One plant captured just a quarter of blowing agent in 2017 and 27 per cent last year.
Licences for recycling plants are dependent on periodic reporting on performance. This includes the amount of blowing agent theoretically available in the machines they are recycling and the amount recovered. However, much of the data was incomplete with some plants only providing half the required amount per year.
Around four million household fridges are sold annually in the UK. About 2.7million old fridges were disposed of and processed at specialist plants in 2017 and 2.5million in 2018.
CFCs in fridges and freezers have been gradually phased out over 30 years, but modern fridges still contain elements that contribute to climate change when released, though to a much lesser extent.
Labour MP Mary Creagh, chairtal man of the Commons Environmental Audit Committee, said: ‘Environmental permits should be respected. That recycling facilities are failing to meet targets, or opting not to report performance, puts our health at risk.
‘Once again the under-resourced Environment Agency is unable to tackle potential waste crimes. My committee will take up this issue.’
Dr Doug Parr, chief scientist for Greenpeace UK, said: ‘The Environment Agency need to up their regulatory game.’ A spokesman for campaign group the EnvironmenInvestigation Agency said: ‘The Environment Agency should investigate this without delay. We’re in a climate emergency where every tonne counts.’
The report stated that while many sites across Europe achieve the required capture rates, in the UK only the Telford-based plant AO consistently does so. In late 2018, Viridor St Helens also achieved this.
The Anthesis study, commissioned by AO, analysed submissions to the EA obtained from Freedom of Information requests.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: ‘We check the performance of these plants against the terms of their operating permits through a combination of inspections, audits and data monitoring – where necessary we will take action to make sure they comply with those terms.’
John Roberts, AO’s chief executive, said: ‘Customers have every right to trust brands to give them what they are paying for.
‘This wasn’t the case in the recycling industry and retailers were turning a blind eye so we invested £10million in a recycling plant to make sure we were in control, meaning AO customers can be safe in the knowledge that their products are recycled to the right standard.’
‘Our health is being put at risk’