Domestic food waste collections will begin in Adur and Worthing by spring 2026 after more funding to start rolling out the service was secured.
A phased roll-out of weekly food waste collections will start in March 2026, with household refuse and recycling collections continuing to happen every two weeks.
Food waste makes up approximately 39.5 per cent of the content of a household bin by weight in Adur and 40.6 per cent in Worthing.
The councils said that they had been working to minimise those figures with schemes such as community composting and a competition for residents to win a hot composting bin by sending in tips to reduce food waste.
Weekly food waste collections are now being introduced to help improve recycling rates as well as to comply with the government’s simpler recycling scheme which was introduced to create consistency in the way that recycling, food waste and garden waste are collected across the country.
The scheme requires all councils to provide a kerbside food waste collection for businesses and other non-domestic premises by the end of March 2025 and for all households by the end of March 2026.
In March this year, Adur and Worthing councils wrote to the government to request a review of the funding allocated because the amount provided was estimated to fall short by £900,000 of what would be needed to implement a full service.
The two councils have since been awarded an extra £227,000 but the total provided still won’t cover the implementation or continuing running costs of the new service or the work at our depots needed for the project.
Until sufficient government funding is made available or other funding is identified, Adur and Worthing will phase the roll-out of the service, prioritising those areas with the most homes.
Households with a kerbside collection will receive a seven-litre caddy to use in the kitchen and a 23-litre food waste caddy to place out on collection day. Food waste will be collected weekly. Refuse and recycling will continue to be collected fortnightly.
Residents living in blocks of flats will also receive a caddy to use in their kitchen. They will be able to use new 140-litre food waste bins that will be placed in communal stores and collected weekly. The collected food waste will be transferred to West Sussex County Council.
An estimated 10 new 7.5 tonne vehicles are needed to deliver the service and that will include the purchase of two electric vehicles. This approach will enable Adur and Worthing to test electric vehicle technology and provide time to make changes to depot and vehicle workshop infrastructure needed to accommodate the new technology.
Before the weekly food waste service is introduced, Adur and Worthing plan to use software to develop more efficient refuse and recycling collection routes.
Residents will continue to be able to use the council website to check their bin collection day as well as to sign up for reminders to put their bin out by downloading the free smartphone app.
Councillor Jude Harvey, Adur’s cabinet member for the environment and leisure, said: “Alongside our initiatives to prevent waste in the first place, the introduction of a weekly food waste service will go a long way towards reducing the amount of food that ends up in landfill and will help us boost our recycling rates.”
Councillor Vicki Wells, Worthing’s cabinet member for environmental services, said: “Food waste collections have been a priority for residents and the administration for over two years.
“Although the council has secured enough funding for a phased service, I am very disappointed that we can’t afford to roll out the scheme in its entirety.
“I will continue pressing for increased community composting schemes to follow the success at Victoria Park and also press for alternative fuelled vehicles, ensuring we future-proof our waste fleet for the environment.”
