Due to a legislation change introduced we will be collecting and disposing of some bulky waste, such as sofas and chairs, separately to other bulky waste, such as wardrobes.
Below are some frequently asked questions you may have.
Why are you collecting bulky soft furnishing items separately to other bulky items?
The Environment Agency has issued guidance regarding the disposal of Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDs) containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs).
POPs are chemicals that remain intact in the environment for long periods, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissues of humans and wildlife and have harmful impacts on human health or on the environment.
It means this waste is no longer be accepted at landfill and must be destroyed through incineration.
To comply with the guidance, we have had to make changes to our bulky waste collection service. It means we now collect items containing POPs separately. This ensures that any items we collect are disposed of correctly and in line with any laws, regulations and guidance.
What items contain POPs?
Upholstered items of household seating may contain POPs. This includes any part made of, or containing, leather, synthetic leather, other fabric, or foam. Therefore, items include sofas, armchairs, home office chairs and padded/upholstered stools and bean bags.
Take a look at our list of items that contain POPs
- animal beds
- armchairs
- chairs/stools
- corner sofas
- footstools/pouffe’s
- futons
- garden sofas
- headboards upholstered
- ottoman
- recliner chairs
- recliner sofas
- sofa beds
- sofa/couch/settee’s.
What about mattresses?
Under the legislation, mattresses, curtains, blinds and beds are not classed as domestic seating and are not currently covered by this guidance.
What about electric recliners or sofas?
Under the legislation, electric recliners or sofas are classed as electrical waste when being disposed. That means we can collect tham as part of a standard bulky waste collection.
Charges for mixed collections
If you have two items but one is a standard collection and the other is an item which is upholstered or a soft furnishing, then you will have to pay two charges as they are two separate services and collections.
For example, for a table and a couch, you would have to book a collection for the table (£25) and then a collection for the couch (£25).
We have to charge twice as we are making two collections. This is to comply with changes to legislation set nationally and not by the Council.
Anything else we should know?
The service can only currently accommodate the collection of 60 upholstered/soft furnishing items. Once this capacity is reached request for collections will be paused.
The Cut off for booking either a POPs collection or a non-POPs collection is 2pm on the Friday before collection day.
Why can’t you collect them at the same time as other bulky waste items?
Our normal bulky waste items are collected by vehicles which crush the items. Under the Environment Agency guidance, items with POPs cannot be crushed and therefore need to be collected in a different kind of vehicle. That means we have to had to re-organise how we deploy our refuse fleet. The service is designed to operate as efficiently and effectively as possible to get the best service and best value for money.
Last updated: Mon 24th April, 2023 @ 09:51