Food waste recycling
Information about plans for food waste collections.
From autumn 2025 through to autumn 2026, food waste collections will begin in West Sussex. This is because of government rules for Simpler Recycling.
Don't worry, you'll be able to recycle all the same items as before in your current recycling bin. Food waste collections are an extra service with different bins.
About food waste collection and recycling
When your food waste collections will begin depends on where you live.
Your local district or borough council will collect your food waste each week.
The food waste that's collected will go to an anaerobic digestion plant in Horsham. The plant recycles the waste into:
- fertiliser to help farmers grow crops
- energy to power the plant
If there's extra energy, it's sent to the national grid to power homes and businesses.
Food waste items you can recycle
When your council starts collecting food waste, you'll be able to recycle:
- meat (including bones)
- fish and shellfish
- cheese and yoghurt
- cooked or uncooked vegetables, including peelings
- inedible materials, for example fruit skins or egg shells
- bread, cakes and pastries
- rice, pasta and beans
- plate scrapings
- mouldy and out of date food
- pet food
- tea bags or coffee grounds
- solid fats
If you put anything else in your food waste bin, your council will not collect it.
Why separating food waste is important
We want to reduce the amount of food waste produced in West Sussex.
While we can't avoid some food waste, like tea bags or banana skins, we can reduce others such as cooking or buying too much.
When people separate their food waste from other rubbish, they usually throw less away. This comes from research about food waste recycling collections in other areas and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP).
When we see how much food we're wasting we can change what we do.
What you will get and how to use it
You will get:
- a grey caddy for your kitchen
- one roll of compostable caddy liners, to help start you off
- a grey and orange outdoor bin, with the exception of:
- people living in flats who will have a communal food recycling bin
- people in Mid Sussex who will have a different coloured bin
You will need to do:
- store your caddy in your kitchen
- remove any packaging from your food waste, making sure you recycle what you can - check our A to Z guide
- place your unpackaged food waste into the caddy instead of your general waste bin
- empty your caddy into your outdoor bin or communal food recycling bin
- put your bin out at the boundary of your home by 6am on your weekly collection day - make sure it's not hidden by your other bins
If you live in a flat, your district or borough council will empty the communal bin every week.
About your caddy
You can use the liners that come with your caddy at first. When you run out, you can put food waste in the caddy without a liner. To help keep it clean you could use:
- newspaper
- compostable liners from any supermarket
- a sheet of kitchen roll to soak up any liquids
Do not use plastic or carrier bags in your caddy. That's because when we're recycling, we can't get rid of all the plastic. Tiny bits called microplastics get left behind. The microplastics go into the fertiliser we make from recycling the food waste. This reduces the quality of the fertiliser and harms the environment.
About your food waste recycling bin
Your outdoor food waste recycling bin has a locking handle. Use the bin for all acceptable food waste and make sure you keep it locked. This should keep the waste inside if the bin falls over and helps prevent unwanted smells. This should also avoid foxes and other vermin being attracted to it.
We recommend that you wrap any smelly food waste in newspaper or compostable liners before putting it in your food waste bin.
Other ways to prevent pests
You can avoid flies and other pests being attracted to all of your waste bins by:
- keeping all bin and caddy lids firmly closed
- not leaving food, including pet food, uncovered in your home
- double wrapping pet waste before you put it in your general household waste bin
- rinsing off food and other residue from all your recycling, allowing it to dry before putting it in your recycling wheelie bin
- leaving your bins out of direct sunshine, where possible
- washing your bins and caddy regularly with hot water using washing up liquid or a strong smelling detergent