Originally Posted by
Argus
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There’s been a lengthy discussion on the regulations regarding removing the materials from the fridges – Oils, refrigerants etc.
It’s true that the current law prohibits the deliberate venting of refrigerant and states that it must be processed by qualified individuals. Over the past 10 years this has all be done to death in all its aspects on this forum.
In my view, the real point of the original post concerned the materials in the fridges, not who does what to it.
Because it is no longer put to its intended use - a fridge – the law in the UK regards it as WASTE.
This means all of it, not just some of it, and the waste materials are in fact covered under the Hazardous Waste Regulations.
There are three forms of Hazardous Waste in a domestic fridge:
The refrigerant gas ( we don’t know what it is in this case)
The oil in the compressor.
And finally, what has been overlooked so far, the foam insulation.
Again, we don’t know what the insulation is blown with, but it is classed also as hazardous waste and licenses are required by law to dispose of it along with the rest, alonng with the requirements to handle it.
Sorry to rain on your parade – but if I were you, I’d forget it and dispose of the fridges responsibly.
If they were any use as grow-boxes, I expect that people would be making loads of money out of them already.
PS - I should also mention that many old fridges, prior to the 80s / 90s were finished with paints that are no longer permitted from a toxicity point of view. Not recommended for growing vegetables or in contact with ground water.
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