More than 50,000 abandoned fridge freezers are piling up across England and Wales, forcing at least 26 councils to suspend collection services and racking up storage costs, a Mirror probe has revealed.
Council chiefs from Bradford to Gloucestershire, Durham and Nottinghamshire are battling to clear a mountain of scrapped white goods, fuelled by the record-breaking heatwave and the closure of processing plants. The suspension of collections means local authorities are burdened with huge storage bills worth thousands each day, hitting funds which would otherwise be spent on social care, education and other vital services.
Closures and heatwave worsen crisis
Fridges and freezers require specialist dismantling due to the toxic gases and chemicals they contain. However, three of the UK's 10 full-scale processing plants have closed in the last 12 months, due to a fire, bankruptcy and a change of use, compounded by this year's heatwaves.
Councillor Jon Hubbard, from the Local Government Association, warned: "When you buy a fridge freezer, part of the cost of that fridge freezer, they're paying for is to subsidise the scheme to dispose of the fridges. So the public aren't getting what they pay for and now they're having councils having to stop other services. Producers are profiteering from the public by not fulfilling their obligations."
Fears of fly-tipping spike
The Local Government Association is also concerned that the crisis may cause a spike in illegal fly-tipping and dumping, with homeowners unable to dispose of unwanted fridge freezers. The association says it is impossible to accurately predict the true scale of the problem, but the Mirror understands the number of discarded fridges and freezers exceeds 50,000.
Coun Hubbard suggested the issue would "escalate", adding: "If one of our councils contacts the programme and says, 'We've got fridges ready for collection', they're meant to pick them up within five days and deal with them appropriately. These fridges have to be recycled in an approved, authorised treatment facility and they have to have a license from the Environment Agency. There's a real responsibility to make sure that these gases are properly captured and dealt with appropriately. And that that's because they're potentially harmful. Now councils have this problem that they're having these fridge mountains build up, and that in itself is a challenge."
Norfolk site full to capacity
Shocking images from Norfolk show more than 30,000 abandoned fridges and freezers piled at a council recycling centre, now full to capacity. A Norfolk County Council spokesperson said: "This is a national issue brought about by an authorised treatment plant going into administration in November 2025 and a recent fire at another authorised treatment plant. Work is still ongoing to clear the existing backlog, and we are not yet able to resume accepting these items at our recycling centres. This is a national issue and we are waiting for updates from our contractor on when this is likely to be fully resolved."
Norfolk County Council is one of those to have restricted fridge and freezer drop-offs to its seven biggest recycling centres as temporary storage fills up. The council normally operates 19 recycling centres across the county. Kate Murrell, assistant director for waste at Norfolk County Council, said the Mayton Wood site near Coltishall was being used as a short-term solution but was already nearing capacity.
Wales site abandoned after company collapse
Last month it emerged thousands of appliances had been abandoned at a former recycling site at Newport docks, Wales, following the collapse of the company that operated at the facility. Pictures show a large stockpile of appliances where unwanted fridges and freezers remain while discussions take place over what should happen to the material. The site was previously operated by Unimetals, a recycling business with 28 sites across the UK, but Unimetals Recycling (UK) Ltd was placed into compulsory liquidation after a winding-up order was made on November 25, 2025, with an official receiver appointed as liquidator.
Industry body the Environmental Services Association said this year's closures had ended up "knocking out capacity suddenly". Executive director Jacob Hayler previously said: "The result is that capacity is now constrained nationally until facilities can be brought back online or new capacity is permitted and developed."
Some UK fridges are now being sent further afield to Scotland or even Europe for processing. Industry figures expect further UK processing capacity to become available in 2027, but have warned more long-term investment will be needed to make the system more resilient.
The LGA has called for urgent government action, warning councils cannot be expected to keep paying to store ever-growing stockpiles. Defra says it is working with manufacturers, compliance schemes and councils, and has stressed that producers remain responsible for clearing local authority sites. The crisis comes as the government steps up its wider crackdown on illegal waste dumping and fly-tipping.
