Fridge Failure Revealed

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 19th Sep 2002

As mountains of old fridges grow across Britain, a West Midlands euro-MP has learnt that France and three other EU states have found a simple solution to the problem. They have simply ignored it.

An EU regulation to reduce ozone-depleting gases by requiring the removal of CFC foam insulation from old fridges has created major problems for the UK, which has not had the facilities to deal with the fridges.

Seven EU member states, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria and Sweden, have led the way by introducing state-of-the-art recycling equipment to deal with the foam. Britain and some other member states are struggling to catch up.

But in France, Ireland, Greece and Portugal, no special instructions have been given to retailers or recyclers regarding removal of the CFC foam. The European Commission is now initiating legal proceedings against them.

Liz Lynne, Liberal Democrat MEP for the West Midlands, said that while Britain had been struggling to cope with the 3.5 million fridges disposed of annually in the UK, other countries had pretended the problem did not exist.

She said: "Resentment is bound to grow if the rules of new environmental legislation are not enforced equally and effectively across the EU. The Commission must step up the pressure."

"The French are playing the system. They know that by the time the Commission's slow enforcement procedures have any impact they will have the new recycling equipment in place. In the meantime they have avoided any problem with fridge mountains.

"It may not be very honourable but it's a pragmatic approach which would have got Michael Meacher out of a lot of problems."

The EU legislation covers fridges and freezers that contain CFCs and/or HCFCs. Many manufacturers stopped using CFCs as refrigerant in the mid-1990's but HCFCs continue to be used. The majority of refrigerators entering the waste stream require treatment.