Fridges and freezers are the one item most waste firms in this area quietly refuse. One of the biggest operators covering Cardiff and Newport will not touch them at all. We will – and we do it the way it is supposed to be done.
From £15 per item, collected from wherever it is standing. You do not need to wrestle it out to the front on your own.
Why a fridge cannot just go in the van with everything else
This is worth understanding, because it explains the price and it tells you a lot about whoever you are hiring.
A fridge or freezer holds harmful gases in two separate places:
- The refrigerant and oil in the sealed cooling circuit – the pipework at the back.
- The blowing agent trapped in the insulating foam – inside the walls and the door.
Both have to be captured. Depending on the age of the unit these are ozone-depleting substances or powerful greenhouse gases, which is why discarded fridges are classified as hazardous waste under waste codes 16 02 11* and 20 01 23*, and are covered by the Ozone-Depleting Substances Regulations 2015, the Fluorinated Greenhouse Gases Regulations 2015 and the WEEE Regulations 2013.
Tipping a fridge into a skip, letting a grab lorry compact it, or laying it flat in the back of a van with a load of rubble on top ruptures the circuit and breaks up the foam. The gases go straight into the atmosphere. That is why it is treated as hazardous waste and why the rules exist.
How we handle them
- Carried and transported upright and undamaged – never tipped, never laid down under a load
- Kept separate from the general waste in the van
- Taken to a permitted treatment facility with degassing capability, not a general transfer station
- Two-stage treatment there: the cooling circuit is degassed, then the foam is processed to extract the blowing agents
- Hazardous waste paperwork raised where it is required
What it costs
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Fridge, freezer or fridge freezer | from £15 an item |
| Chest freezer | from £15 an item |
| American-style or commercial unit | ring for a price |
| Collected as part of a larger load | usually no extra charge |
If we are already there clearing a kitchen or a house, the fridge normally goes in the price. Ask.
Your other options
Cardiff Council will collect fully recyclable items including fridges and washing machines free of charge as part of its bulky collection – if you live in Cardiff, can wait for a slot and can get it to the kerb yourself, use that. We would rather tell you than take £15 off you unnecessarily.
Other councils in the area charge for bulky collections and all of them are kerbside only. That is where we come in: a full chest freezer in a cellar, a fridge freezer on a first-floor flat, or a unit that needs disconnecting and getting through a narrow kitchen door.
Before we arrive
- Empty it – frozen food and old bottles make it far heavier and considerably worse to carry
- Defrost it if you can, or at least put towels down
- Unplug it the night before if there is time
- Tell us if it is upstairs, in a cellar, or through a tight doorway so we bring the right kit and enough hands