Pembrokeshire waste and recycling centres continue to accept fridges and freezers amid national challenges

Pembrokeshire waste and recycling centres are continuing to accept fridges and freezers despite some Welsh authorities suspending their acceptance, councillors heard.
In a late submitted question heard at the July meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council, Cllr Huw Murphy asked: “Cardiff City Council and Carmarthenshire County Council have suspended the ability of residents of those authorities to take a redundant fridge, fridge freezer or other cooling appliances to their waste recycling centres (WRCs).
“The reason given is a lack of capacity nationwide to process such items meaning that such items are not collected and remain with Cardiff and Carmarthenshire Counties taking up storage. Pembrokeshire also being a tourism destination probably has a high number of fridges, fridge freezers and other cooling appliances being recycled.
“Therefore, can the Cabinet Member inform Council and residents of the likelihood of Pembrokeshire adopting this measure and suspending the ability of residents to take either a fridge, fridge freezer, or cooling appliance to a WRC.
“If, due to a lack of time a formal response cannot be provided can the Cabinet Member please forward an email in due course to all councillors to confirm if there is a likelihood of Pembrokeshire adopting measures currently implemented by Cardiff and Carmarthenshire.”
The question was answered by Cabinet Member for Residents’ Services Cllr Rhys Sinnett, who said that, at present, the council had not suspended the acceptance of such items, with no plans to introduce such restrictions.
He added: “Should the situation change, we will keep residents informed.”
Speaking after the meeting, a Pembrokeshire County Council spokesperson said: “Pembrokeshire County Council can confirm that residents will continue to be able to dispose of fridges and freezers at all waste and recycling centres across the county.
“Several local authorities nationally are experiencing challenges due to disruption within the fridge and freezer reprocessing sector, which has affected the collection and treatment of these items.
“However, Pembrokeshire County Council has secured additional storage capacity through an exemption arrangement, enabling the council to continue accepting fridges and freezers from residents while wider industry issues are resolved.
“The council would like to reassure residents that there is no need to delay visits to waste and recycling centres and normal arrangements remain in place and we will continue to monitor the situation closely and work with partners across the waste sector to ensure services are maintained.” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

By BBC LDRS ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​