The Isle of Wight Council has moved to reassure Island residents and businesses that its household waste recycling centres will continue to accept soft furnishings, such as sofas and armchairs.
The assurance follows the introduction of new Environment Agency regulations requiring all upholstered seating to be separated from other waste and safely disposed of by incineration. It cannot be sent to landfill.
For most residents, this will mean little change other than their padded seating and other soft furnishings placed into a separate container at one of the council's household waste recycling centres at Afton Marsh and Lynnbottom.
For businesses using the Commercial Waste and Recycling Centre to ‘pay as you throw’ for their own waste (same entry point as the household recycling centre), the council requests upholstered domestic seating (sofas, cushions, chairs etc) is brought in a separate load from other waste and placed in the separate container.
Mixed loads will be charged as all containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
Some private waste carriers who have a separate contract with Thalia, the council's waste service provider, have been signposted to alternative disposal facilities for such items due to regulatory and capacity issues at the current waste transfer station (located at Lynnbottom and operated by Thalia), which they had previously used.
This is the only site affected by the new legislation and is a temporary measure while Thalia considers alternative routes away from landfill.
The council will continue to collect soft furnishings as part of its bulky waste collection service and reusable soft furnishings for free as part of its reuse service. These can be booked online or by calling waste services on 823777.
Natasha Dix, the council's strategic manager for environment, said:
“We want to reassure residents that all households and all commercial businesses can continue to bring their own waste, including soft furnishings, to one of our recycling centres.
"We have dedicated bays at both of our recycling centres for people disposing such items — please make the meet and greet person aware on arrival, and we will then dispose the items in accordance with the new guidance.
"For businesses delivering their own waste, we ask for this to go to the Commercial Waste Recycling Centre at Lynnbottom. This includes sofas, chairs etc.
"The new national guidance follows an investigation that found significant levels of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in seating textiles and foams."
Residents can check whether a company has a waste carriers licence on the Environment Agency website.
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