Photo credit: Ambipar
Release date: 21 January 2026
More than 145 tonnes of waste material washed ashore around West Sussex over the last few weeks has now been collected and disposed of.
The major clean-up operation continues to recover debris including organic materials, metals, plastics and container parts that came from cargo ships off the coast in December and January.
The operation is led and co-ordinated by West Sussex County Council, Arun District Council and Chichester District Council together with partners.
Our priorities remain public safety and protecting the environment and the work continues right across the county’s coastline.
Ambipar’s waste recovery teams continue their work using techniques including litter picking by hand and vacuuming small particles of plastic and foam. The waste collected is then segregated before being taken away to be disposed of.
Over the weekend, large pieces of foam were recovered from Medmerry Nature Reserve to the west of Selsey Bill with the permission of the RSPB. Efforts to clear further fragments are ongoing.
AR Banks’s work to recover container pieces around the West Sussex coastline continues. This work remains similarly complex and includes surveying and assessing the areas to plan logistics before recovering sections of the containers. Over the weekend, teams recovered large container pieces from Littlehampton and Bognor Regis.
Find more information on reporting debris and containers and staying safe along the shoreline.
