More than 80,000 old fridges and freezers have been left stranded at a recycling facility in Newport following the collapse of operator Unimetals, the South Wales Argus has reported.
The closure has contributed to a growing backlog in the recycling of white goods across England and Wales, with concerns now being raised over the amount of capacity available to safely process end-of-life refrigeration appliances.
According to the South Wales Argus, the Unimetals facility contained specialist equipment needed to process fridges and freezers, which require careful handling because of the cooling gases they contain.
Its closure has come alongside fires at recycling facilities in Darlaston and Thetford, further reducing the number of sites able to process the appliances.
Oxfordshire County Council has now called on the Government to intervene and help bring the Newport facility back into operation while the necessary equipment remains on site.
Laura Gordon, of Oxfordshire County Council, told the South Wales Argus: “We’ve called on the Government to step in now, while the equipment is still on site, get that site operating so we can start working through the backlog.”
She described the combination of disruption at the three recycling sites as a “perfect storm” for waste services.
“Fridges and freezers require specialist recycling because of the cooling gases which can deplete the ozone, if they’re not handled correctly,” she said.
“Unfortunately, due to fires at two recycling sites and the bankruptcy of a third, national capacity is down massively.”
Oxfordshire County Council has written to the Government urging it to take action over the situation, with the equipment required to process the backlog reportedly still in place at the Newport facility.
Associated British Ports (ABP), which operates the Port of Newport, confirmed that discussions are under way over the future of the site.
An ABP spokesperson said: “The Unimetals site at the Port of Newport was part of the Unimetals liquidation process.
“ABP is in discussions with third parties about the future of the site and the material on site.”
The closure of Unimetals has also put around 650 jobs at risk.
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