New fire retardant legislation from 1 January 2023 means all upholstered items – including sofas, sofa beds; chairs (arm, kitchen, dining room, home office); stools, foot stools; futons, bean bags, cushions – go in separate signposted skip at the recycling centres.

Somerset Waste Partnership is advising residents heading to its recycling centres to ask staff if they are unsure.

Britain has strict regulations about fire safety of home furniture, which means that many old sofas and chairs can't be sold on or even passed for free to charity shops, unless they have a fire safety label.

The number of UK fire-related deaths in the home showed an increasing trend from the 1960s to the late 1980s. These deaths rose from 400 per year at the start of 1960 to 700 by the end of the decade with further increases in the 1970s.

A gradual decrease was observed in the 1980s however the number of domestic fire-related deaths in 1988 was still 731 per year. As a response to these worrying statistics, the UK Government took action through the introduction of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989 and 1993) .

Regulations were introduced that all sofas that were sold within the UK were legally required to carry a fire label – something only awarded if the sofas are treated with fire-retardant chemicals.