Borders residents disposing of items such as sofas, upholstered armchairs and beanbags are being urged to be aware of new rules that restrict how and where these items can be disposed of.
Important changes to how you dispose of furniture items
New legislation introduced by SEPA means that local authorities across the UK now need to accept and store these items separately.
This is due to chemicals called Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), which are present in the upholstered items and have the potential to be harmful to human health and the wider environment.
Examples of waste upholstered domestic seating
- Sofas
- Sofa beds
- Armchairs
- Kitchen and dining room chairs
- Stools and foot stools
- Home office chairs
- Futons, bean bags and, floor and sofa cushions
- Electrical recliner chairs
- Any seating that contains leather, synthetic leather, other fabric, or foam.
The changes you need to be aware of
To accommodate for the new guidance, we are making significant changes to the way that householders can dispose of this type of waste.
Coming into effect from 21st October 2024, members of the public will only be permitted to dispose of upholstered seating at community recycling centres if they have booked a slot online in advance of their journey.
This move is being made to ensure that we can ensure these items are safely handled and stored separately from other waste to avoid any potential contamination.
In the near future, changes will also be made to how our bulky uplift service can be used for the disposal of upholstered seating. This will require members of the public to book separate uplifts if disposing of upholstered seating to avoid contamination with other waste items.
As part of the new SEPA guidance, we will be unable to accept upholstered seating that have been damaged, torn or broken at our CRCs unless these have been sealed to prevent the release of fibres. This can be done by covering up tears with tape or placing torn items in sealed bags. A video on our webpages helps explain what is required if this affects you.
Full details of the new legislation, the changes coming into effect from 21st October 2024 and how they impact residents can be found on our website.
To make a booking to dispose of any of these affected items at a community recycling centre, please use the following online form.
Councillor Jenny Linehan, Portfolio holder for Environment, Sustainability and Transport:
“The new guidance issued by SEPA, which affects local authorities across the UK, sets out clearly that items like sofas, chairs and cushions need to be separated from other waste and disposed of differently for safety reasons.
“Whilst the exposure to POPs from upholstered furniture is low, by introducing stricter measures to change the way both we as a Council and our residents handle and dispose of these items ensuring we can make it safer for everyone.
“I would urge Borderers to familiarise themselves with the changes we have introduced to accommodate this legislation to avoid disappointment when they go to dispose of these items.
“Please note that with the exception of customers using cars at our CRC facility in Easter Langlee, all members of the public wishing to dispose of these items at our various sites will be turned away if they have not booked a slot online in advance.”