If you are buying a new fridge freezer, there’s a good chance you already have an old one. So what do you do with it? You can’t leave it out with the rubbish and hope the bin men take it (they won’t). And you can’t just leave where it is because you will need that space for the new one.

So what are your options?

Sell it on

If your old fridge freezer is in good working order, there’s no reason not to have a go at selling it. You may find that there is a local appliance reseller who will offer you cash in return for your unit. Even if it is not working properly, some shops repair and resell faulty units, so it is well worth seeing if you can get anything back. Best of all, they will often come and collect the fridge freezer from you – perfect if you don’t have a car with a boot large enough to fit it in!

Alternatively you could try selling your fridge freezer direct. The local paper usually has a small ads section where you can advertise your fridge freezer, often for free. You should find a section on the paper’s website where you can enter the product details and your contact number ready for publication in the next edition. Once complete you wait and see if anyone interested calls to find out more.

The modern alternative would be to list the fridge freezer for sale on a public site like ebay and invite people to bid on it, or buy it outright. Although you will earn a bit of cash this way, you are also responsible for arranging delivery, so don’t forget to calculate this in advance as it could be quite costly for something so large and heavy!

Recycle it

Dumping old fridge freezers in landfill is illegal. Because some of the chemicals used in the manufacture of refrigerators is hazardous, European Union directives demand that old appliances are recycled to prevent these chemicals entering the food chain.

Most local and county councils offer recycling facilities for fridge freezers, and some will even collect the appliance from you. Just be aware that most will charge for this service, so be prepared!

Sell it back

Home appliance retailers sometimes offer a “buy back” scheme on old fridge freezers. The idea is that when they deliver your shiny new refrigerator, they fit and install it and then take your old one away for recycling and disposal.

This is brilliant because it means you don’t have to do anything (apart from maybe unplugging the old unit), and you can be sure that everything is recycled responsibly. Even better is the fact that some retailers offer this service free, although some will charge. Either way, you will need to arrange a “buy back” in advance.

Pass it on

If your fridge freezer is still in good working order, you should seriously consider passing it on to someone else who may benefit from it. Rather than sending it for disposal, ask around your friends and family to see if anyone needs a replacement or a spare.

If there is no one in your direct social circle, there are usually local charities who work with low income families who need appliances for the people in their care. Some will collect the appliance direct from you for a small donation (about £10). You not only get rid of your old fridge freezer, but you also do your bit to help those less fortunate than yourself.

Working or broken, someone will always take it

So whether your old fridge freezer is working or not, someone out there is interested in it. And you may even make a few pounds towards the cost of your new one!

A natural born writer, Stacey Barton writes professionally and for fun across a wide range of niches with particular attention to how classic brands can continue to offer the same product for decades and somehow survive the turbulent and ever changing consumer market.