The Vale has stopped collecting fridges and freezers, and Drayton tip now allows one booking every three months. What it costs to have a retailer take yours.

If your fridge or freezer has died, the two routes you would normally use have both just narrowed. Vale of White Horse District Council has stopped taking fridges and freezers on its bulky waste collections altogether, and Drayton recycling centre now limits each household to one fridge or freezer booking every three months.

The reason is national. Oxfordshire County Council says the capacity to treat these appliances across the country has fallen by a third, and it has written to government asking for action.

What the county has done

Oxfordshire County Council announced the restrictions at its household waste recycling centres on 19 August. They apply to fridges and freezers only:

  • Booking slots for a fridge or freezer show one week of availability at a time, instead of the usual two.
  • Each household gets one fridge or freezer booking every three months.
  • You can bring up to two units per booking.
  • Every other material and every other type of booking is unaffected.

Cllr Laura Gordon, the county council’s cabinet member for environment and economy, said the council was “exploring every avenue to address the backlog”. She said the restrictions were introduced “to help manage a growing backlog as we seek to maintain the service for residents”.

This follows an earlier step on 6 August, when the county stopped accepting fridges and freezers from people living outside Oxfordshire in order to prioritise its own residents.

What the Vale has done, which is stricter

The county’s release asked the district and city councils to make “similar temporary restrictions” and told residents to check locally. In the Vale, the answer is not a restriction. It is a stop.

The council’s bulky waste page now reads: “Due to a nationwide shortage of specialist processing facilities, we are not currently able to take fridges and freezers.”

The rest of the bulky waste service is running normally. It still collects furniture, televisions, washing machines and mattresses, with a size limit of 6ft on anything except a sofa. A collection costs a minimum of £62.50 for up to three items, then £12 for each extra item up to six.

So what do you actually do with it?

If you are buying a replacement, use the retailer. Under the rules on electrical waste, a retailer selling you a new appliance must offer a like-for-like collection of the old one. It is allowed to charge for taking it from your home, and most do.

The county council has published the charges it found when it checked retailer websites in August. They are worth reading before you book anything, because the spread is wide.

Chart of indicative retailer charges to collect an old fridge or freezer: Amazon free if arranged at checkout, Currys £15 to £25, Appliances Direct £19.98, Argos £19.99, Euronics £20, AO £20 to £30, John Lewis £25, B and Q £44
Indicative retailer takeback charges published by Oxfordshire County Council, from websites checked in August 2026.
Retailer Indicative charge
Amazon Free if arranged at checkout; third-party sellers may charge
Currys £15 to £25, or £30 to £40 for American-style units
Appliances Direct £19.98
Argos £19.99, or £29.99 for American-style units
Euronics £20
AO £20 to £30, or £30 if you are not buying a new appliance
John Lewis £25
B&Q £44

If it still works, do not scrap it. A working fridge or freezer can be sold or donated, and that route has no queue and no charge.

If you are taking it to the tip, book early. Abingdon’s nearest household waste recycling centre is Drayton, on Steventon Road, OX14 4LA. It opens 8am to 5pm every day, with last vehicle entry at 4.55pm. You have needed a booking to visit any Oxfordshire centre since 14 January 2026.

Two things catch people out at the gate:

  • Bring proof of your address, such as a driving licence or a recent utility or council tax bill. Visitors from outside the county are charged £15 per booking.
  • Arrive in the vehicle you named on the booking form. Staff compare the two, and you can be refused entry if they do not match.

If you cannot book online, the county’s customer service centre takes bookings on 01865 519800, 8.45am to 5pm Monday to Thursday and 8.45am to 4pm on Friday. Drayton is a short run down the A34 or the B4017 from Abingdon, though the A34 southbound is closed overnight until 30 September if you were thinking of an early start.

If you pay someone else to take it

The Vale’s own advice is worth repeating in full, because the risk sits with you rather than with the person you pay. If you use a private company, the council says you should:

  • ask to see proof of their waste carrier licence
  • get a receipt of payment
  • get a waste transfer note

Householders have a legal duty of care to hand waste only to a registered carrier. If your fridge is fly-tipped after you paid someone to remove it, that paperwork is what separates you from the offence.

What it means for you

The practical read is simple. If your appliance is failing but still cold, sort it now rather than in a fortnight. The county has said the measures will be kept under review, but the backlog is national and the treatment capacity has already gone.

If you are replacing the unit, the retailer route is the cheapest and least troublesome option, and often cheaper than a bulky waste booking would have been anyway. If you are not replacing it, the tip is the only free route and your household is capped at one booking a quarter, so do not waste that booking on a single unit if you have two to shift.

Sources