FRIDGES or freezers will no longer be accepted at waste sites in Hampshire because a government regulated scheme has failed, says the county council.

More than 2,500 fridges are already stockpiled in household waste recycling centres and extra storage has been set up, but no more are being taken.

Hampshire County Council say the national scheme put in place by the manufacturers, and regulated by the government, has ground to a halt, leaving councils across the country with hundreds of redundant fridges and freezers filling up waste centres, and no capacity to accept any more.

Rob Humby, member for environment said: “This problem has been building up for months with no effective measures being put in place.”

At the start of October Hampshire introduced charges for larger items and building waste from households and banned fridges, freezers and other cooling equipment for trade customers.

District councils have also announced a zero tolerance approach to fly-tipping with fines of up to £50,000 for those who dump waste.

Under regulations introduced by the Government, the responsibility for the safe disposal of redundant fridges and freezers rests with the manufacturers who have been required to set up a scheme to collect and deal with such appliances.

The recycling centres are designed for household waste, although, they started to accept certain types of waste from small businesses at the start of this month.

A county spokesman said: “The council provides a collection point only for the scheme provided by the producers and regulated by the Government. This scheme obliges the producers to take responsibility for the environmentally sound disposal of electronic goods.

“While it is not for us to offer advice on behalf of the Government or the electrical appliance industry, it would seem sensible to suggest residents consider using the service provided by the manufacturers to take away old appliances when new ones purchased from them are delivered.

“Not all online retailers offer this service, so this will need to be checked before purchasing a new appliance.

“If the Government acts quickly and makes sure the units already at the recycling centres are collected, then our sites will be able to start accepting fridges again from residents and also from the bulky waste collections organised by the district councils.”

Mr Humby is asking Hampshire MPs to take up the matter, if necessary raising it in Parliament. He said:“I’m very disappointed to hear the national issue of collecting, storing and treating fridges is now having an impact on residents.

“This problem has been building up for months with no effective measures being put in place. Therefore, we are pressing the Government to tackle this issue as a matter of urgency. It really cannot be fair on councils or council taxpayers to foot the bill for the failure of this government-regulated scheme.

“I am particularly disappointed the Government seems more interested in micro-managing every detail of how councils’ recycling centres operate, rather than tackling the urgent national problem of a huge stockpile of fridges and freezers filling up waste sites across the country.

“Until the Government acts to resolve this, I regret to say, with over 2,500 fridges already filling our household waste recycling centres and all the extra storage we’ve been able to provide, I have no choice but to say we cannot accept any more fridges or freezers at our waste centres.”