When products break or develop problems, the most cost-effective way of dealing with the situation is to call out someone to come and carry out repairs – but on occasion, an appliance may well prove to be broken beyond all hope of repair, in which case you’ll need to make sure that you dispose of it responsibly.
It’s essential that you don’t just dump your appliances somewhere and forget about them – a practice known as fly-tipping. It is illegal to deposit waste on land or in water, as set out under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, whether it’s black bag household waste, industrial waste, construction material, liquid waste or tyres.
Fly-tipping blights local environments and is a source of pollution, as well as potentially being dangerous to both public health and wildlife.
And you can be penalised quite significantly if you are caught in the act, with new financial penalties introduced back in January that could see householders who fail to pass waste on to licensed carriers and whose waste is then found fly-tipped possibly facing fines of up to £400.
You must always check your fridges and freezers to see if they contain fluorinated greenhouse gas, specifically HFC 134a, HFC 245a and HFC 3465mfc before you get rid of them. Get in touch with your local council to collect your appliances and arrange to have the F gas recovered.
The majority of councils will come to your home to collect items like old sofas, washing machines and fridges for a fee, so if you are ready to dispose of old appliances, this should be the first step you take.
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