Fridge mountain is conquered

The last fridge is removed from Plymouth for recycling

A fridge mountain of more than 15,000 appliances in Plymouth has been sent abroad for recycling.

The fridges were being stored at the city's Chelson Meadow rubbish and recycling site.

The mountain of fridges built up over the last year following the introduction of European legislation which banned local authorities from burying or destroying fridges before the harmful CFC gases are removed.

Surrey-based company Technowaste has now transported the fridges to the Netherlands on behalf of the council for environmentally-friendly dismantling and recycling.

Like other councils across the country, Plymouth City Council had to store the old fridges as there are no specialist recycling facilities in Great Britain to comply with the new regulations.

George Wheeler from Plymouth City Council said: "These fridges were obviously taking up a vast amount of space at Chelson Meadow but there were no facilities in this country to recycle them.

"Our Environmental Regulation Services staff have worked hard to resolve this problem and they found a solution that ensured all the fridges were recycled safely."