AN MOUNTAIN of old televisions could build up, the Local Government Association has warned.
The (LGA) fears that stingy businesses will refuse to pay the cost of recycling electrical goods - leaving Council Taxpayers to pick up the bill.
From next July, retailers and manufacturers will have to pay for the recycling of more than a million tonnes of TVs, computers and mobile phones - equal to 2,500 jumbo jets.
But the LGA claims local authorities are being offered just £6,500 per site to upgrade their recycling centres.
Spokesman Clr Paul Bettison said: "It is totally unacceptable that the Council Taxpayer should be expected to shoulder the burden of new schemes that businesses should be paying for.
"Retailers are holding the whole process to ransom. Unless they are willing to contribute more to the councils' costs then some town halls may not be able to afford to get involved."
And Clr Bettison believes this could lead to a stockpile of old electrical goods.
He said: "We risk a similar situation to the fridge mountains a few years ago unless business invests more.
"Not only would this be an eyesore, the environmental impact would be deeply worrying too as electrical goods contain lead and mercury which can poison water and cause brain damage."
The UK and Malta are the last two countries to implement the EU directive to recycle old electrical goods rather than put them in landfill.
