Banning of Disposal to Landfill of ‘Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating’ containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

Banning of Disposal to Landfill of ‘Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating’ containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

The Environment Agency has recently issued a communication concerning ‘Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating’

The EA has issued this statement to highlight the banning of disposal to landfill of waste domestic seating due to the likely presence of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). “Domestic seating waste” includes sofas, sofa beds, armchairs, kitchen and dining room chairs, stools and foot stools, home office chairs, futons, bean bags, floor, and sofa cushions.

It also includes items with any part made of or containing leather, synthetic leather, other fabric, or foam. In fact any item of upholstered domestic seating should be assumed to contain POPs and therefore needs to be treated accordingly.

 You can read the full guidance on the EA website,  but the key passage that will affect disposal of these items is

3.2: Can I Landfill items of upholstered domestic seating waste? No, you and your contractors must not landfill items of upholstered domestic seating, or wastes arising from their treatment, that may contain POPs. This includes – segregated items of upholstered domestic seating waste – mixed waste containing items of upholstered domestic seating waste – shredded or broken up waste arising from the treatment of waste containing items of upholstered domestic seating waste, including refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and solid recovered fuel (SRF) – trommel fines from processes treating waste containing items of upholstered domestic seating waste, including the dust from air filtration systems. Landfill operators will be expected to include appropriate checks in their waste acceptance procedures and waste acceptance criteria testing to ensure they exclude wastes of this type. They may only landfill items of upholstered domestic seating that have been confirmed to contain no POPs by a site that have documented processes and procedures to identify and separate items of seating containing POPs

At Waste Efficiency we always strive to avoid landfill wherever practically possible, so next time you need to refurb an office or reception area, contact us and we will find alternative, fully compliant and sustainable routes for your furniture waste.