New regulations spark fear of increased Isle of Wight fly tipping of household furniture (updated)

Concerns have been raised about a possible rise in fly tipping of sofas and household furniture after new regulations came into force from 1st January 2023.

Commercial waste collectors were informed in mid-December by Biffa that from 31st December 2022 they would no longer be able to dispose of items containing persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at their landfill sites.

What are POPs?
Persistent organic pollutants can be found in waste textiles and foam used in household items such as sofas, chairs, home office chairs and bean bags.

You can find out more about them on the Government Website.

Already begun
It’s feared that the new ruling – which applies across the country – will force more people to fly tip items such as sofas and chairs in the countryside.

On New Year’s Day, Island resident Graham Lee spotted the items photographed above dumped in Freshwater Bay.

Massive increase in costs
One commercial waste collector told News OnTheWight,

“The poor old lady who needs a sofa, bed or armchair etc taken away will cost her around £500+VAT because it will all have to go to the mainland and get incinerated.”

Whole loads could be refused
The commercial waste collector also said they’d been told by Amey that an entire commercially collected load could be refused if it’s suspected of containing furniture with POPs – due to cross contamination.

Still possible, but at a cost
News OnTheWight understands that some of the commercial waste transfer stations will still accept items thought to contains POPs, but are charging around £250 per tonne plus VAT and have limitations on the number of clients they can accept.

Finding out more
We understand that the regulations will only affect commercial waste collectors and residents will still be able to dispose of items containing POPs themselves at the tip.

News OnTheWight put questions to the Isle of Wight council and Amey to find out more.

Council confirm report
There was radio silence from Amey, and the Isle of Wight council chose not to answer the specific questions asked, but instead provided this response.

The council is reassuring residents across the Island that all households and all commercial businesses, who produce and bring their own waste, which includes soft furnishings, can continue to bring these to the HWRCS. If you are bringing soft furnishings (POPs), there are bays at both of our HWRCs. Please make the meet and greet person aware that you are disposing of POPs on arrival, and the POPs will be disposed of in accordance with the new guidance.
However, we will temporarily no longer be accepting this type of waste from operators of waste businesses at our sites, who have other disposal routes on the island they can use and have been informed of these sites.
Last month the Environment Agency (EA) issued new guidance on how soft furnishings should be managed, such as sofas and armchairs, which contain Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). Effective immediately, the new guidance states these products should not be landfilled, mixed with waste streams containing non-POPs, reused, or recycled. Meaning all POPs-affected seating must be treated or disposed of at an energy from waste (EFW) facility. As with other waste service providers, the Isle of Wight waste service provider is currently reviewing the process, and disposal, of POPs for the island.
All-local authorities, commercial businesses, and waste operators have been issued new guidance following an investigation that found significant levels of POPs in soft furnishings. Like Local Authorities, the Environment Agency made operators of waste businesses aware of potential changes in the regulations in the summer, subsequent to which the Environment Agency will have provided periodic updates on the development of the regulations and accompanying guidance as they evolved. The Environment Agency confirmed in December 2022 that the change in legislation would be enforced from 1 January 2023.
All private waste operators should be aware of these changes under their duty of care obligations as waste operators have a duty to ensure they are following all regulation changes. Alternative companies on the island are able to take POPS waste which are also located on Island [at an increased cost – see above. Ed].
Natasha Dix, Isle of Wight Council’s strategic manager for environment, said,
“We want to reassure residents across the Isle of Wight that all households and all commercial businesses, who produce and bring their own waste, which includes soft furnishings, can continue to bring these to one of our Recycling Centres (aka the tip). If you are bringing soft furnishings (POPs), we have bays at both of our Recycling Centres, please make the meet and greet person aware that you are disposing of soft furnishings on arrival, and we will then dispose of them in accordance with the new regulatory guidance.
“For business delivering their own waste, we ask for this to go to the Commercial Waste Recycling Centre at Lynnbottom. This includes sofas, chairs etc.
“There are no other changes made to our waste and recycling operations across the Island.”
We do not envisage there being an increase in the incidents of fly tipping, as we will continue to accept POPs waste from residents and commercial business on the island and other waste operators have alternative routes for disposing of POPs.
The council continues to remind residents they are responsible for disposing of their own waste properly and legally by using their household bins or taking the waste to their local household waste recycling site. For larger loads they can also hire a licensed waste carrier to take the rubbish away, or they can use the council’s own bulky waste collection service. Anyone caught fly-tipping could be ordered to pay a £200 fixed penalty notice or the case can be taken to court, where they face an unlimited fine or even imprisonment.
Karen Lucionni, Cabinet Member for Waste Management added:
“We are an island of conscientious recyclers who love and care about our environment. Our waste service provide[r] is working hard to ensure that the changes we can comply with the changes in the environment agency’s regulations at our sites, and at the soon to be finally commissioned Energy from Waste Plant. I would like to reassure the private waste carriers on the Island that the temporary request not to bring POPs to site is only a temporary measure due to capacity to store these materials at this time.
“The Island is a great place to live and visit with a fantastic outdoor environment and I have every faith that we can continue to keep it clean and free of fly tip if we all make sure we follow our Duty of Care and dispose of waste thoughtfully at licenced sites.”