As per the Environmental Agency Directive

Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating Containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

The way Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating containing POPs is received, stored and processed will change from the 1st January 2023.

These changes follow guidance from the Environmental Agency on the disposal of Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating (WUDS) containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The guidance states that these items will no longer be able to be recycled or accepted at landfill and must be destroyed through incineration.

The manufacture, sale and use of products containing POPs is now banned. Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) are poisonous chemical substances that break down slowly and get into food chains as a result.

Many POPs were widely used during the boom in industrial production after World War II, when thousands of synthetic chemicals were introduced into commercial use. Many were used in the manufacture of upholstered domestic seating.

Waste Upholstered Domestic Seating is any item of seating of a household type from households or businesses that is waste. Upholstered domestic seating may contain POPs.

This includes any part made of or containing leather, synthetic leather, other fabric or foam.