Rochdale is one of the most expensive areas in the country to get rid of your fridge

The borough of Rochdale is one of the country’s most expensive areas for disposing of a fridge or freezer, according to new figures from the BBC Shared Data Unit.

Rochdale and Oldham are the only local authorities in Greater Manchester charging a separate bulky waste rate for refrigerators and freezers, with Rochdale charging £32.20 per item compared to just £10 in Oldham – the ninth most costly in England.

Bulky waste is furniture, household electrical items like televisions and white goods including fridges and freezers - essentially items from your house you no longer need and can’t fit into a bin.

In 2017-18, there were nearly one million fly-tipping incidents in England. Of those, more than half - 521,895 - of the items dumped were white goods or other household waste - a category that includes furniture.

Nationally, the most expensive council for fridge collections is Richmond-upon-Thames, with a charge of £51.

However, Rochdale borough has the fourth lowest bulky waste charge in Greater Manchester, charging £21.50 for removal of up to three bulky items, such as mattresses, bed frames, bed headboards, carpets and sofas. Each additional item above this costs just £5 extra, with no specified maximum.

The cost per item is just below the north west average of £7.50, costing a reasonable £7.20 for each item.

Councillor Neil Emmott, the council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “When it comes to disposing of unwanted household goods, there are a number of options available to residents and for collecting multiple items, we have some of the lowest prices in Greater Manchester.

“The council can dispose of bulky items for a charge, residents can take their fridges and freezers to one of our recycling centres for free themselves, donate to a charity, or use a licensed waste carrier to remove them. Most shops will also remove your unwanted electricals when they deliver a new one.

“However, we are in the process of reviewing our bulky waste collection contract and that will include our pricing structure. Information about bulky waste collections can be found on our website or by calling 0300 303 8884.”

By comparison Wigan charges the least amount of £10.80 for three items’ removal, whilst Salford charges £42 for four items.

Only 15 out of 326 councils in England currently offer a free bulky waste collection available to all residents, including Manchester centre.

The analysis showed that there is a north-south divide in costs, with householders in the south paying three times as much on average as those in the north to have bulky waste collected.

On average, north east councils have the cheapest bulky waste collections, followed by the north west, and Yorkshire and the Humber.