May 2023 news

View our news items from May 2023.

The Kings coronation

It’s the big weekend! This weekend we witness the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Camilla, Queen Consort. With all the festivities it's easy to forget about the amount of waste you’re producing. Luckily that's where we can help, we have lots of tips and tricks to help reduce your waste:

  • If you’re having a picnic, make sure to only take what you need and to avoid packing extra food. Even if you bring reusable ice packs, foods that need refrigeration will only last for so long in the hot sun. Plan realistically and don’t be afraid to split food. For example, if you've bought a whole tub of hummus and you know you are likely to only eat half, put half in a reusable container and leave the other half at home in the fridge to eat later.
  • Try to say no to single use. Avoid using paper plates and disposable cutlery and swap them out for the real thing. Ask people to bring their own from home and take it with them when they leave.
  • Instead of buying a new tablecloth, why not upcycle an old sheet, blanket or throw? They work just as well and can be washed and reused again and again!
  • Avoid purchasing one-off plastic decorations. You could always get creative and try making your decorations. Old jam jars make great tealight holders and you can always make your own bunting using newspaper or magazine articles.

The Big Fix

This month we’re encouraging people to buy less and fix more with Recycle Devon’s Big Fix campaign. The Big Fix is designed to counteract throwaway culture and promote repair and reuse.

A repair café is a free meeting place where people can bring things to be repaired by volunteers in their local community. This can include things such as clothes, furniture, electricals, bikes and toys. Here in West Sussex, we want to support reuse and repair as much as we can. For information on locations of repair cafés in West Sussex visit our Big Fix web page.

Community Food Hubs With UKHarvest and Biffa

From May 2023 our Community Food Hubs in partnership with UKHarvest and Biffa were rolled out county-wide. Following on from the success of our pilot, over the next 12 months there will now be one Community Food Hub in each district and borough per month.

Community Food Hubs are open to all residents, are child friendly and are designed to help rescue food from suppliers that would otherwise have gone to waste. For information on dates and locations visit our UKHarvest web page.

Royal British Legion announces new recyclable poppies

In April 2023 the Royal British Legion announced the plans for their all-new plastic-free poppy. The new poppies will be made from 100% paper and will be available from October this year as part of their Poppy Appeal. We are pleased to inform residents that these poppies will be recyclable in recycling bins at home.

The Poppy Appeal will continue to sell the old plastic poppies in an effort to use up the remaining stock and to reduce waste. Old-style plastic poppies cannot be recycled at home and will need to be returned to Sainsbury’s stores for recycling. More information can be found on the Royal British Legion's website.

Waste prevention events

Throughout West Sussex, we have a team of passionate waste and recycling volunteers and advisers. They attend public and private events to promote waste prevention and are keen to answer questions on the county's recycling provision and waste prevention.

For more information on any of the listed events below, or if you would like our team to attend an event please email waste.prevention@westsussex.gov.uk.

May/June 2023 events

  • Saturday 6 May - Coronation Street Party Information Stand - Crawley Memorial Gardens (11.00am-3.00pm)
  • Monday 15 May - Dementia Week Recycling Information Stand - Bridge Leisure Centre, Horsham (10.30am-1.30pm)
  • Sunday 28 May- Waste Prevention/Recycling Information Stand - Tilgate Park, Crawley (10.00am-3.00pm)
  • Saturday 3 June - World Environment Day Event - Amberly Museum (10.00am-4.30pm)
  • Saturday 3 June - Lindfield Village Day (from 10.00am)
  • Wednesday 7 June - Waste Prevention/Recycling Information Stand at Community Food Hub - Bognor Community Centre (10.00am-11.00am)
  • Thursday 8 June - Waste Prevention/Recycling Information Stand at Community Food Hub - Sylvia Beaufoy Centre, Petworth (10.00am-11.00am)
  • Wednesday 14 June - Waste Prevention/Recycling Information Stand at Community Food Hub - Southwick Community Centre (10.00am-11.00am)
  • Friday 16 June - Waste Prevention/Recycling Information Stand at Community Food Hub - Ashenground Community Centre, Haywards Heath (10.00am-11.00am)
  • Wednesday 21 June - Waste Prevention/Recycling Information Stand at Community Food Hub - Broadfield Community Centre, Crawley (10.00am-11.00am)
  • Thursday 22 June - Waste Prevention/Recycling Information Stand at Community Food Hub - Sidney Walter Centre, Worthing (10.00am-11.00am)
  • Sunday 25 June - Information stand - Burgess Hill Summer Fayre.