Rule change on taking furniture to the tip criticised

Devon County Council cabinet member Roger Croad says there will be "chaos" at some recycling centres

Councils have criticised new rules which mean sofas, armchairs and some other furniture will not be accepted at many tips.

New Environment Agency (EA) regulations demand upholstered furniture is stored and transported separately from other non-recyclable waste - even when it is all burned in the same incinerator.

Devon County Council and Cornwall Council said the rules meant fewer recycling centres would be able to accept upholstered furniture due to a lack of space with extra costs in Devon of about £110,000 every year.

The EA said it was important to keep upholstered furniture separate due to the presence of toxic chemicals in the form of persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

Upholstered furniture will have to be stored separately from December

Roger Croad, cabinet member for waste and recycling at Devon County Council, said the regulations were "nonsense".

He said: "We're going to see a bit of chaos I think.

"I'm at a complete loss as to the Environment Agency's rationale here."

Mr Croad said out of 19 recycling centres across Devon only eight would be able to accept upholstered furniture from December.

He said there was simply not enough space to add new storage areas.

Sofas and armchairs will not be able to be stored in the non-recyclable waste skip in Devon County Council recycling centres from December

Cornwall Council said it supported Devon County Council's position and had "made similar representations" regarding consequences of rule changes.

A spokesperson for the council said: "In the meantime, we are carrying out assessments at each of our household waste and recycling centres (HWRCs) to establish what changes will be required in order to comply with the new regulations.

"However, we anticipate that there will be additional costs for the council and, as in Devon, some HWRC services may have to reduce to accommodate this change."

'Toxic chemicals'

The EA regulations were introduced from January 2023 but authorities were given until 1 December 2024 to comply.

An EA spokesperson said: "Separation of waste containing POPs minimises contamination with other waste and makes these toxic chemicals easier to trace in the environment."

The spokesperson said "most" local authorities had already introduced segregation of materials and it expected all councils to do the same.