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Environment and Planning

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Refuse and Recycling

Mid Sussex District Council has an Alternate Weekly Collection Service for Refuse & Recycling.

The service was introduced between September and November 2007. There has already been a rise in the amount of material we are recycling and a reduction in what we are sending to landfill. This is fantastic news and we would like to thank residents for doing such a good job with their recycling. Our mixed dry recyclate (material you put in your blue lidded recyling bin and take to the bring sites) has reached an average recycling rate of 42% a month! We have also seen a reduction in waste going to landfill of about 14%. 

This means we have reached our recycling target for 2007 - 2008.

Outline details of how the service works are shown below, and further details & answers to your questions can be found by looking at the the pages on the left & the links on the right.

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The Councils Kerbside Garden Waste Collection Service has been enhanced to include the option of using biodegradable sacks.

The service is available for an annual subscription. For full details please visit the Garden Waste pages.

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RECYCLING MATERIAL REMINDER

Contamination rates of materials in Blue Lidded Recycling bins that we can't recycle have been slowly creeping up. We know that the residents of Mid Sussex are good recyclers and wouldn't want any of loads to be rejected by the sorting facility.

The items that we most commonly find in bins that we are NOT CURRENTLY ABLE TO RECYCLE are:

• Plastic Bags
• Yoghurt/ Margarine/ Ice Cream Cartons
• Plastic Food Trays
• Aluminium Foil

Please put these items in your Grey Lidded Landfill Bin.

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HOW THE REFUSE & RECYCLING SERVICE WORKS

Every household has two wheeled bins.
One bin will be grey with a blue lid – for recycling
One bin will be grey with a grey lid – for landfill waste

We collect your bins on alternate weeks: Recycling bin one week and your Landfill bin the next week.

A leaflet detailing how the service works is available to download  from downloads / links section to the right or by contacting the Refuse & Recycling Team on 01444 477440 or emailing wastematters@midsussex.gov.uk

When will my collections be made?

Collection Calendars are available to download at Collection Day Information or by contacting the Refuse & Recycling Team.

What can I put in my bins?

Recycling bin:

• Plastic bottles
• Mixed paper & cardboard (including newspapers & magazines).
• Food and drink cans
• Glass bottles & jars
• Tetra Paks
• NO PLASTIC BAGS PLEASE!

Landfill bin:

• Anything else EXCEPT clinical waste, garden waste, electrical goods or large items of household waste

Your recycling bin is provided with a sticker to remind you what you can recycle. A leaflet explaining what can go  in your bin is available for download in the download / links section to the right.

Chargeable collections of bulky household waste will continue.

Local Bring Sites and Household Waste Recycling Sites (Civic Amenity Sites) are also available.

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Why have we changed the way we collect refuse and recycling?

• The environmental damage caused by putting our waste in landfill is unacceptable. We all have to be more responsible to reduce the amount of rubbish we send to landfill
• The new service will increase the amount of materials that can be recycled and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. Landfill space will run out in West Sussex in 2010
• In order to meet UK Government recycling targets we have to do things differently to avoid financial penalties.
• The new service is a more effective and efficient way of collecting waste, is clean and safe and reduces the amount of vehicle movements.
• The new service is being introduced at no extra cost to Council Tax payers.
• Recycling saves energy. Less energy is used to make products from recycled materials rather than raw materials.

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Why are you collecting my recycling materials all mixed together now and how can we be sure the materials are being recyled?

When your recycling is first collected from your blue lidded bin the vehicles compact the materials creating space on board making for an efficient collection scheme.

Your recycled material is then taken to a Material Recovery Facility (MRF) in Kent. Next summer West Sussex County Council will be opening a new MRF at Ford that we will be able to use. Sorting technology today is very impressive.

All materials are separated mechanically using a variety of techniques including a trommel (like a large rotating drum that separates paper from other items), magnets, shaking conveyor belts and sieves through which different size materials drop, visual sensors and separators. The end result is well segregated materials that are then sold on.

If you would like more details please look at 'What Happens to Your Recycling'

Collecting material to be recycled all together makes it easy for everyone - for residents and collection crews. This means that more people will likely recycle and more waste will be diverted from being buried forever in landfill.

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Removal of Glass Banks from local Bring Sites

The new kerbside recycling collection service in Mid Sussex has proven so successful that the use of glass banks at local bring sites has reduced to less than a third of previous usage. The new co-mingled collection service has meant that householders in Mid Sussex no longer need to make trips to bring sites to recycle their glass bottles & jars.

The Council has therefore  removed unnecessary glass banks from the bring sites. Some glass banks have been left at one site in each of the main towns: 

• East Grinstead, Sainsbury
• Haywards Heath, Sainsbury
• Burgess Hill, Cyprus Road

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Waste Prevention Advisors Course

If you are interested in helping out and gaining an official qualification then this may be for you!

Certificated 40-hour course, full time over 2 weeks or part time over 13 weeks. Run by Brighton University in conjuction with west Sussex County Council.

For more information please visit Waste Prevention Advisors Course

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 CD/ DVD Recycling

You can now take unwanted CD's/ DVD's & their cases to local Household Waste Recycling Sites at Burgess Hill & East Grinstead. Pop them in the special bin & they will be recycled.

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If you need to know more, or have any questions please contact us.

• E-mail wastematters@midsussex.gov.uk
• Telephone 01444 477440
• Write to:

Cleansing Services
Mid Sussex District Council
Oaklands
Haywards Heath
West Sussex
RH16 1SS

Last Updated 01/07/2008

Tel: 01444 458166,  Fax: 01444 450027,  Enquiry Form,  Webmaster,  Contact Us

Mid Sussex District Council, Oaklands, Oaklands Road, Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH16 1SS