Fenland District Council urgently seeks solution to change in sofa disposal

Change is rules means upholstered domestic seating, such as sofas, upholstered chairs, cushions, and beanbags, will no longer be accepted at Cambridgeshire County Council’s Household Waste Recycling Centres including at March, Whittlesey and Wisbech.

The change, which came into force on Sunday (1) follows a national direction from the Environment Agency that, all waste upholstered domestic seating containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (known as POPs) must be separated from landfilled waste and destroyed by incineration.

As a result of these changes by the Environment Agency, which Cambridgeshire County Council (as the disposals authority) is applying across the county, Fenland District Council will temporarily not be able to collect such items as part of its bulky waste collections.

Although this is not a problem of the council's making it is urgently looking into providing a temporary solution for residents looking to dispose of upholstered seating following the change, as the authority understands the inconvenience to residents and the potential for other issues such as fly-tipping.

Councillor Peter Murphy, Fenland’s portfolio holder for the environment, said: “It was extremely unfortunate to learn that this direction was coming into force on January 1 before alternative arrangements could be put in place.

“We also fully understand residents’ frustration at this news and are working closely with Cambridgeshire County Council, as waste disposal authority, to urgently provide both temporary and long-term solutions.”

In the meantime, residents are advised to take advantage of reuse schemes and retailer take-back schemes, where available, and online selling sites, or hold on to such items until a further update can be provided.

If residents would like to use a private waste collection service to dispose of waste upholstered domestic seating, please check that the waste carriers are licensed and that they are taking the items for incineration.

This is because no household waste recycling centres in Cambridgeshire will accept them. If the items are subsequently fly-tipped, residents risk prosecution as well as the waste carrier. For more information, visit: www.fenland.gov.uk/flytipping