Councils have been facing growing pressure from a national backlog in the processing of fridges and freezers, with dozens forced to restrict or temporarily stop collections at household recycling centres.
The disruption follows the closure of specialist treatment facilities and a wider shortage of capacity to process cooling appliances.
Recent hot weather has added to the problem, with fridges and freezers more likely to fail during heatwaves and more appliances entering the waste system.
Councils have been working to keep services running, including securing temporary storage and asking residents to delay disposing of old appliances. But as sites approach safe capacity, some have had little choice but to introduce restrictions.
Under the producer responsibility system for waste electrical and electronic equipment, manufacturers are responsible for financing the collection and treatment of household electrical waste through producer compliance schemes.
An LGA spokesperson said: “It is not right that residents who are trying to do the right thing can’t take old or broken appliances to their local recycling centre due to failures elsewhere in the system.
“Councils are working hard to keep services running, but it is deeply unfair to expect them to pay to store growing stockpiles or pass disruption on to residents.
“Producers must urgently get collections back on track and cover every additional cost councils face. The Government must ensure they meet their responsibilities and put proper contingency arrangements in place.”