Minister considering charge for disposing of some household appliances

Friday, 6 March 2026 11:06

The Infrastructure Minister has said he is looking into introducing a charge for the disposal of certain goods such as fridges and televisions.

Constable Andy Jehan has told scrutiny politicians that there is a 'hole' in government finances that could be filled by introducing charges for some waste.

He says charging islanders for the removal and disposal of corded electrical goods, particularly fridges which contain coolants, could both reduce waste and generate revenue for the government.

Constable Jehan told scrutiny politicians that a disposal fee is common in other jurisdictions:

"Cooling appliances are more complex (to recycle) because of the mechanisms.

"We've currently got commercial fitters that are delivering us with half a dozen commercial appliances, which actually fill a trailer, and are costing us thousands of pounds to export to be processed.

"Whereas, virtually everywhere else, there'd be some form of charge for that.

"We need to be mindful that we don't want fly-tipping to occur, but equally we need to be mindful of the cost of disposing of those safely and where we can recycle, recycle.

"It's not a case that we want to charge, but we have to find ways of encouraging people to reduce their waste and reuse what they've got.

"We receive hundreds of televisions, for example, and in some jurisdictions you might be charged £10 for that."