Guernsey Waste sorting Longue Hougue’s stockpile of fridges
A STOCKPILE of more than 6,000 old fridges and freezers, which had been prevented from being recycled due to export restrictions, is being tackled by Guernsey Waste.
The backlog was caused by international regulations relating to transport and the treatment of items which contain gases that are harmful to the environment, such as refrigeration units.
The appliances require specialist handling and processing, which cannot be done on-island, but an update to the regulations had also prevented them from being exported temporarily.
As a result, they were stockpiled at Longue Hougue until legislation allowing the exports to recommence could be extended to the island.
The required legislation was delayed by Brexit and Covid but is now in place, and shipments of the old units to the UK have started again.
Two trailer-loads are expected to be exported each week.
Guernsey Waste operations manager Sarah Robinson said that good progress was being made.
‘We anticipate that the backlog will be cleared by the end of the summer,’ she said.
‘Once the stockpile has been exported, regular shipments will continue to take place to continue to manage incoming items.’
Appliances which do not contain the regulated gases – mainly newer units – are processed locally and did not need to be stockpiled.
It is therefore anticipated that there will be a reduction over time in the number of old units which require shipment off the island.
