Picture if you can 41,000 tins of baked beans – that’s the equivalent amount of food waste collected each day by Mid Sussex District Council.
Now increase that pile to seven million tins and that’s how much the authority has collected since its service came online in November 2025.
While the council has offered a heartfelt ‘thank you’ to residents for the way they have changed their habits to make the food waste collections so successful, it is keen to encourage more people to take part.
As a spokesman said: “Every small action makes a real difference – even one full kitchen caddy can generate enough energy to power an LED light-bulb for 24 hours.”
On top of this, the collections and other recycling options have helped cut the amount of general waste by around 26 per cent – essentially, residents are recycling more and wasting less.
Mid Sussex was very much a leader in the county when it came to introducing food waste collections, running a pilot scheme from 2022 which covered 3,000 homes.
Now more than 72,000 households, including 7,000 in harder-to-access communal flats, are taking part each week – with 99.58 per cent of collections being completed on schedule.
While the benefits of a food waste collection service are obvious – it’s converted into fertiliser to help farmers grow crops and into energy – there have been some costs.
The Government has provided some funding to help with the introduction of the collections, but the money didn’t cover all the costs involved, such as 12 collection vehicles and 30 new jobs.
A spokesman said: “Mid Sussex District Council has been able to manage these costs through long-term prudent financial planning and by making early investment decisions that secured the equipment needed at the best possible value for residents before demand and prices rose.”
One major cost will be a new depot to take the strain off of the Haywards Heath one, which is currently used for waste, recycling and street cleansing services.
Plans are being worked on to open a new site next to the current recycling centre, in Imberhorne Lane, East Grinstead. Before any work can start, though, planning permission will be needed.
With one depot in the north of the district and one in the south, the hope is that it will improve operational efficiency, reduce travel time and aid service reliability.
To find out more about waste and recycling in Mid Sussex, log on to www.midsussex.gov.uk/waste-recycling .
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