Poisons without passports (POPs)

Or in official terms, Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPS).

These are a class of hazardous chemical pollutants that are harmful to the environment if not correctly disposed of and are found commonly in upholstered furniture. They can accumulate in the environmental for a long time which has resulted in an end to how furniture used to be made.

Any items now containing POP’s are banned from landfill.

The Environmental Agency issued a new legislation which has come into force 1st January 2023, meaning that these items cannot disposed of in landfill sites due to the materials they contain. UK manufacturers stopped making furniture containing POP’s between 2002 and 2011, however it will take centuries to rid POP’s from the UK altogether.

Upholstered furniture now must be incinerated in a specific way, and is banned from being disposed of in landfill sites. This has meant costs have increased to dispose of any upholstered furniture, due to the way this now has to be dealt with.

Items containing POPs:

- Sofa's

- Sofa beds

- Armchairs

- Kitchen and dining room chairs

- Office chairs

- Floor and sofa cushions

- Any items containing leather, synthetic leather or any other fabric or foam.

What we will do as your waste management provider, is to ensure that any items containing upholstered furniture is correctly disposed of and providing to WTN to prove this.