New communal recycling bins for West Sussex's flats and shared houses

New communal recycling bins and information packs will be rolled out to nearly 8,000 flats and shared houses across West Sussex this year.
plastic bottles ready for recyclingplastic bottles ready for recycling
plastic bottles ready for recycling

Recycling rates for these types of properties can be a lot lower than others as space can be limited or residents may be new to the area.

From now until March next year West Sussex County Council will be working in partnership with the district and borough councils to help make recycling easier and clearer for people living in flats and shared houses.

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The information packs, which include a free reusable bag to collect recycling in, will be delivered to residents by the partnerships team of doorsteppers.

This approach was piloted in 2016 to tackle historic difficulties in increasing and improving recycling rates and quality from flats and communal properties and was shown to deliver measurable, positive results, improving residents recycling rates by 94 per cent.

Deborah Urquhart, the county council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “Following on from the award winning houses of multiple occupancy recycling project in 2016, we’ve seen a big improvement in recycling quality and rates by the flats and shared houses that were involved.

“With such an improvement it makes perfect sense for us to roll this out to more flats and shared households across the county, so that more people can boost their recycling.

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“The see-through recycling bins and updated recycling information will help to improve how much waste is recycled by individuals and will ultimately help us to reach our target of 50 per cent of all household waste being recycled by 2020.”

The initiative started in Crawley and has moved to Arun this month. Other areas which will also benefit from the scheme are Chichester, Mid Sussex, Adur and Worthing.

Paul Wotherspoon, Arun District Council’s cabinet member for neighbourhood services, said: “The council is delighted to see this partnership initiative rolled out to a greater number of flats and houses of multiple occupancy in the district.

“After the success of the pilot scheme, we are confident that the communal bins and information packs will lead to an increase in recycling rates and an improvement in the quality of materials collected.”

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During the six weeks, teams will be visiting certain flats and shared houses around Arun to hand out the packs, give more information on recycling and answer any questions that residents may have about recycling and waste prevention.

To find out more information about what can go in kerbside recycling bins, visit the West Sussex recycling website.