 Household food waste collections have already begun to roll out across the county, with collections from households set to increase over the next year. All West Sussex households will start to see information arriving over the next few weeks and months, as the service changes begin. Each district and borough will begin collections at slightly different times, with Mid Sussex residents already using the service, and Arun, Chichester and Horsham starting in in March and April. Adur Worthing, and Crawley councils will start their new service later in the year.
The government has introduced 'Simpler Recycling' legislation, which means that all households in England will need to be able to recycle the same materials. This is why separate food waste collections are now being introduced across West Sussex. By separating your food waste, you can see how much food gets wasted. Many residents who already have food waste collections have said it helps them to reduce the amount of food they throw away at home - and maybe even save money on their shopping bills by buying less or using up leftovers.
This is great news for the environment. Food waste that is collected will be taken to an anaerobic digestion plant in Horsham and recycled into:
- Fertiliser to help farmers grow crops
- Energy to power the plant
You can find out more about food waste collections and how you can get involved by entering your postcode for local information, on our website
 West Sussex County Council, in partnership with Biffa and ten community organisations, is celebrating the results achieved so far through its Waste Prevention Community Grant Fund. Launched in May 2025, the grant awarded up to £5,000 to each organisation to run projects aimed at reducing household waste at a local level.
In the first 6 months of the programme, the successful projects collectively diverted over 60 tonnes of waste. They engaged more than 31,000 residents through workshops, repair cafés, composting schemes, school uniform swaps, refill initiatives and much more.
Focusing on practical initiatives, the ten groups’ projects focus on reusing, repairing and waste prevention. They target a range of household items, including food, textiles, electrical items, bikes and general waste.
The projects receiving funding are:
- Pre-Loved Hub (Estcots Parents & Friends Association): Reselling and upcycling school uniforms to reduce textile waste.
- Bognor Regis Repair Café: Helping residents repair household items instead of discarding them.
- Wheels of Change (Chichester Bike Project): Training vulnerable residents in bike maintenance and providing refurbished bikes.
- Compost Selsey: Turning food waste into compost which is used in The Hidden Garden to grow plants, fruit and vegetables.
- Crisis Response Furniture Aid (Grandad’s Front Room): Supplying essential items to residents in urgent need.
- Return and Refill (Sussex Green Living): Launching a dry food refill service to cut packaging and food waste.
- Stitch Fixers (West Sussex WI): Teaching repair skills to prevent textiles from going to waste.
- Waste Prevention Project (Barnham and Eastergate Community Trust): Reducing food waste through food education workshops and organising community clothing and toy swap events.
- Sew Resourceful (Resourceful Community Scrapstore): Sewing and repair sessions that teach mending and upcycling to transform textiles into reusable items.
- Think Green - Waste Management Awareness (Tamil Learning Centre): Distributing bilingual resources that explain recycling, donation, redistribution and repurposing to Tamil and South Indian communities.
Project updates and more information can be found on our website.
 It's almost Valentine's Day! While Valentine's Day is a wonderful opportunity to express love and affection, it doesn't have to come at the expense of the environment. By making mindful choices, we can celebrate while minimising waste. Here are some of our favourite ideas:
- Thoughtful experiences over material gifts – Instead of purchasing physical items, consider gifting experiences that create lasting memories without generating waste. This could include a romantic walk, a homemade candlelit dinner, or a visit to a local art exhibition.
- Low waste cards and messages – Traditional Valentine's Day cards often end up in the bin. Opt for digital e-cards or, if you prefer a physical card, choose ones made from recycled materials. Better yet, craft a handmade card using materials you already have at home for a more personal touch.
- Rethink flowers – While flowers are a classic Valentine's gift, they often don’t last long and come wrapped in plastic. Consider giving a potted plant that can be enjoyed for years or skip the flowers altogether.
- Recycle and compost – Once you’ve reduced your waste as much as possible, don’t forget to recycle everything you can! Items that can be recycled in your household bin include cards and wrapping paper (unless they are glittery, metallic, or foil-based), clean takeaway containers, empty wine and beer bottles, and plastic sweet and chocolate containers. Items to avoid include balloons, teddy bears, and plastic wrapping. You can also compost flowers once they start to wilt.
Find out more about what you can and cannot recycle on our website.
 Starting in February 2026 together with UKHarvest, we’ll be introducing 'Fork & Future', a new campaign delivering delivering 4-week cooking courses in 7 locations, one in each of the West Sussex districts and boroughs. This project will be separate from the regular Community Food Hubs, which will continue to run as normal throughout the campaign.
These cooking courses are being run with the aim to tackle food waste and teach residents helpful tips and tricks that they can use in their kitchens to ensure they get the most out of their ingredients. At the end of the 4-week course, they'll also have the chance to sit down together and share a cooked meal and reflect on what they've learned.
 This year sees the launch of 'The Hidden Treasure Hunt' , a new nationwide schools-and-families campaign aiming to tackle the UK’s growing electrical waste crisis. The campaign was even recently featured on BBC's Newsround, featuring a Chichester based school from the West Sussex Wastebuster programme.
The Hidden Treasure Hunt is a Wastebuster and Currys-led campaign, being delivered as part of the UK wide Recycle Your Electricals campaign, and Material Focus, Microsoft, DHL and Ecogenesys are all partnering for the initiative. This year’s event builds on a 2023 pilot, in which school communities collected more than 200 tonnes of e-waste for reuse and recycling in just six weeks.
Families are encouraged to look around their home and gather any unwanted electricals and tech (anything with a plug, battery or cable) and drop them off at a Currys store, or almost 30,000 other drop off points across the country, to receive points towards their school’s tally.
Schools will be ranked on a national leader board, with those ranked highest at the end of the 2025/26 academic year receiving a share of £20,000 of tech vouchers, which can be put towards vital things like laptops, tablets, and other education-friendly tech.
Teachers are encouraged to register now to take part in the Hidden Treasure Hunt, and join other West Sussex schools on the leader board. You can register your school for free on Wastebuster’s national campaign platform JoinThePod.org, where you’ll get access to free campaign packs, assemblies, lessons and pupil-led activity guides.
Throughout West Sussex, we are proud to work alongside a team of passionate waste prevention and recycling volunteers. They attend public and private events to promote waste prevention, reuse, and recycling, and are eager to answer questions about the county's recycling services and waste reduction initiatives.
In addition to the public events listed below, we are participating in numerous privately hosted talks and events for local community groups, schools, and other organisations. If you would like our team to give a talk, visit your school, attend an event, or if you would like more information, please contact us at: waste.prevention@westsussex.gov.uk.
We also support our partners at the district and borough councils with community outreach in selected areas, engaging residents on both recycling and waste prevention topics.
February / March events
See a full list of events, over on our website.
Finally, we know that if you receive this email, you are passionate about waste prevention and recycling.
If you find these emails helpful, why not share it with a friend and get them to subscribe to the West Sussex Recycles newsletter as well.
To hear more about how the county council is tackling climate change and helping protect the environment in West Sussex, why not sign-up to receive the regular Environment and Climate Change eNewsletter too! View the December edition here.
Help us spread the message and get more people on board to make West Sussex a strong, safe, and sustainable place to live.
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