September 2023 news

View our news items from September 2023.

Who are the West Sussex Waste Partnership?

Did you know there's lots of different people behind the collection, processing and disposal of your recycling and waste?

Here at West Sussex County Council we work with the district and borough councils and our waste contractor Biffa, to make sure your waste is handled correctly. Together we make up the West Sussex Waste Partnership.

As part of the partnership, the collection of your kerbside bins is the responsibility of your local district and borough council - this is why they are sometimes referred to as the Waste Collection Authority.

Your local district or borough council will control the collection of your bins - either in-house or through an external operator such as Biffa or Serco, as well as providing additional collections, such as textiles or small electricals.

That means if your bin is missed or you need a bigger one, you will need to contact them. Because all of the district and borough councils in West Sussex do things differently to each other, it is important that you check their websites for the relevant information.

The disposal of your recycling and waste is the responsibility of the County Council, which is why sometimes you may hear us referred to as the Waste Disposal Authority. This means Recycling Centres, Transfer Stations, the Mechanical Biological Treatment plant (MBT) and the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) are all the responsibility of West Sussex County Council. Here in West Sussex these sites are run though Biffa as our waste contractor.

For more information on how the West Sussex Waste Partnership work together and how recycling and waste is processed visit our Think Before you Throw web page and watch our videos.

Avoid fires and dispose of your small electricals correctly

We’ve updated our website to provide residents with more information on how to safely dispose of small electrical items. You must not dispose of small electricals in either your recycling or waste bins at home. This is because they often contain hazardous materials which can start a fire when the items are crushed during the collection and sorting processes.

Between August 2022 and March 2023 our Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) and Mechanical Biological Treatment Plant (MBT) have had over 24 fires due to small electricals. Our district and boroughs have also seen a significant number of fires in their collection vehicles because of things like small electricals and disposable vapes.

These fires put staff at risk, damage our facilities and vehicles, and take up valuable time and resource from the West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service crews.

For information on how to dispose of small electricals and disposable vapes safely visit our small electricals web page.

Keep your recycling dry this autumn

As we enter autumn and the weather starts to change between sunny spells and showers, we would like to take this opportunity to remind residents not to leave their recycling out in the rain.

Always keep your recycling bin lid closed to make sure it stays dry. If your local council collects extra recycling next to the bin, please make sure this doesn't get wet.

If your material is wet, it can't be recycled, as other items in the bin or collection will stick to it. Always remember recycling in West Sussex must be clean, dry and loose.

For more information about what you can recycle at home, check our preparing your household recycling web page.

Waste prevention events

Throughout West Sussex, we have a team of passionate recycling and waste 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.

Why not pop by one of the events below and say hi?

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

September/October events:

  • Saturday 9 September - Haywards Heath Town Day information stand - Muster Green, Haywards Heath (from 12 noon)
  • Saturday 9 September - Littlehampton Town Day information stand - Rosemead Park, Littlehampton (12 noon - 5.00pm)
  • Saturday 1 October - Linfield repair café - United Reform Church, Lindfield (10.00am - 1.00pm)
  • Wednesday 11 October - UKHarvest community food hub cooking demonstration and information stand - Southwick Community Centre, Southwick (10.00am - 12 noon)
  • Thursday 26 October - Halloween themed upcycling workshop - The Barn, Tilgate Park, Crawley (10.00am - 3.00pm).

We also attend a number of community food hubs in collaboration with UKHarvest. Each district and borough has one hub per month.

For more information on the community food hubs, their locations and dates and times please visit our UKHarvest web page.