Here’s how many fridges & freezers were dumped on Birmingham streets in 2022

Over 2,000 fridges and freezers were dumped on Birmingham streets in 2022, the city council has revealed. Specialist crews were deployed across Birmingham last year to collect fridges and freezers that were fly-tipped on street corners in their droves.

The total number of dumped fridges and freezers last year came to 2,225. The city has been plagued by reckless fly-tippers in recent years, many of whom manage to get away with their brazen crimes scot-free.

The specialist crews operate on a zonal basis, splitting the city into 10 areas. The zone hit worst by dumped fridges and freezers saw 406 collected across Ladywood, Edgbaston, Bournbrook & Selly Park, Balsall Heath West, Bordesly & High Gate, Bordesley Green, Small Heath, and Sparkbrook & Balsall Heath East.

The zone with the second-highest amount of fly-tipped fridge collections includes Holyhead, Handsworth, Birchfield, Aston, Gravelly Hill, Nechells, Alum Rock, Newton, Lozells, Soho & Jewellery Quarter, and Edgbaston.

361 fridges and freezers were picked up by crews in these areas last year. In March alone, 52 were found throughout this area.

The zone with the least collections includes Sutton Four Oaks, Sutton Mere Green, Sutton Reddicap, Sutton Roughley, Sutton Trinity, Sutton Vesey, and Sutton Wylde Green. Just 24 fridges and freezers were found on these streets in 2022.

The most prolific month of 2022 for dumped fridge collections was April when 229 were rounded up by crews. January saw the fewest collected with 121.

What has the city council said?

The council website warns fly-tippers of a £50,000 fine that can come their way if they are caught. In a statement, Cllr Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment, said: “There is no excuse for this unacceptable, anti-social behaviour.

“People have plenty of legitimate options when it comes to disposing of large items like fridges. These include arranging for the supplier of new appliances to take the old ones away, right through to booking a trip to one of our Household Recycling Centres, scheduling a bulky waste collection, or utilising one of the many legitimate third-party waste firms that operate in the city.

“If a rogue ‘man with a van’-type operation offers a deal that seems too good to be true, it probably is and could lead to an item being dumped on our streets, so please make sure any waste carrier is properly registered by the Environment Agency.

“Having to deal with dumped items takes our council resources away from other services – I’ve previously written to the government on the need for reform when it comes to the disposal of appliances and would urge them to consider legislative approaches to positively resolve this issue.

“Also, where we have evidence, we won’t hesitate to prosecute offenders, as has been demonstrated on many occasions in the past.”