Fire Resistant Materials: Costs
(asked on 22nd July 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of Fidra's estimate that disposing of sofas containing chemical flame retardants costs local authorities £135 million per year.
Answered by
Baroness Hayman of Ullock
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
This question was answered on 4th August 2026
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are long-lasting chemicals that can harm human health and the environment. Waste containing POPs above legal limits must be managed so that the POPs are destroyed or irreversibly transformed. Some chemical flame retardants previously used on sofas and similar upholstered seating are classified as POPs and therefore must be disposed of in this way.