Household Waste Recycling Centres temporarily pause accepting fridges and freezers

Residents are being asked to delay taking old fridges and freezers to Central Bedfordshire’s Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) while a specialist recycling facility clears a backlog following its planned maintenance work.

The temporary pause follows a scheduled shutdown at the recycling facility to carry out essential cleaning and machinery maintenance. During this period, the facility could not accept any more fridges and freezers, causing a backlog at HWRCs.

Normally, fridges and freezers would be diverted to alternative facilities while planned maintenance takes place. However, wider pressures on the recycling sector have significantly reduced the availability of alternative storage and processing capacity, meaning this has not been possible on this occasion.

As a result, Central Bedfordshire’s HWRCs are temporarily unable to accept fridges or freezers from residents. The recycling company has advised that it expects the backlog to be cleared and normal service to resume from 12 October.

What residents should do

If you have an old fridge or freezer that you were planning to take to a Household Waste Recycling Centre, please:

Keep it safely on your property until services resume, if you can do so.
If you are buying a replacement appliance, ask the retailer if they can collect and recycle your old one.
Only use licensed waste carriers if arranging disposal through a third party. Using unlicensed operators can lead to waste being dumped illegally, which may result in enforcement action.
Cllr Tracey Wye, Executive Member for Sustainability and Climate Resilience, said: ‘This is a minor pause in usual service, and we’d like to thank residents for their patience while the recycling facility completes this work and clears the backlog.

“Residents are being asked to wait a short while before booking a time slot to bring fridges and freezers to a Household Waste Recycling Centre. We anticipate being able to accept such items at our HWRCs from 12 October 2026 and will make sure the public is kept informed if anything changes.”