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Devon County Council will soon start exporting used fridges to Europe.
In a few weeks
time, up to 30,000 fridges will be sent off to comply with tough
new recycling regulations. But the council admits it is only a short-term
fix to a major environmental problem.
Since 1st January,
fridges and freezers cannot just be scrapped.
The introduction
of tough new European regulations designed to reduce ozone-depleting
gasses escaping into the atmosphere means that they can no longer
go directly to scrapyards.
The regulations
require the removal of all CFC gasses contained in fridge foam insulation
prior to disposal.
It has led to
a major headache for Devon's councils and councils across the country
because there is currently no equipment in the UK to do this in
accordance with with the new regulations.
Devon County
Council alone has been stockpiling 3,000 discarded fridges and freezers
a month since January. More than £250,000 has already been spent
on storage and the total cost is estimated at between £1.5m and
£2m a year.
The council
says it is at breaking point as there is no more storage space available
at their sites, so it has found a radical solution.
Next month,
it will start exporting the fridges to Germany.
The council
admits it is only a short-term fix to a long-term problem, but it
is still no closer to drawing up contracts for a fridge recycling
unit to be established in the South West.
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