What happens to our waste?

Arrangements for the disposal of household waste produced in our area are set out in our Integrated Waste Management Services Contract we have with Veolia.

Integrated Waste Management Services contract

Veolia has a complete approach to managing the area’s waste. In addition to final disposal, it includes:

  • waste prevention, reduction and reuse
  • recycling (including green waste composting)
  • recovery of energy from waste
  • development of new waste management facilities
  • management of the Household Waste Recycling Sites in the contract area.

Waste collection (the emptying of dustbins) remains the responsibility of the local East Sussex district and borough councils and Brighton & Hove City Council.

New facilities

New facilities have been built to manage our waste since the start of the contract in 2003:

Household waste recycling sites

  • Crowborough – replacement for a mobile site in 2004.
  • Maresfield, Uckfield – replacement for a mobile site in 2009.
  • Pebsham, Hastings – relocation of existing site in 2012.

Waste transfer stations

These move waste around the county and reduce waste vehicle traffic.

  • Maresfield, Uckfield – opened 2009.
  • Pebsham, Hastings – opened 2007 on the refurbished Reprotech site.
  • Hollingdean, Brighton – opened 2008, with the capacity to process 120,000 tonnes of waste per year.

Other waste facilities

Materials Recovery Facility, Hollingdean – opened 2008. Up to 80 thousand tonnes of recycling can be sorted and prepared for reprocessing, per year.

Woodlands Composting Plant, Whitesmith – opened 2009. Green waste and food waste from kerbside collections and recycling sites is turned into a quality soil conditioner.

Energy Recovery Facility, Newhaven – opened 2011. This facility burns up to 210 thousand tonnes of waste, per year which can not be recycled and that would otherwise be delivered to landfill sites. The electricity produced is sold to the National Grid and supplies about 25,000 homes.

You can visit the waste facilities and our contractor puts on regular tours. For details, contact Veolia.

The facility visitor centres are easily accessible and there are disabled parking bays and toilets on site. However, operational areas may be less accessible and may not be suited to those with limited mobility. Hearing and guide dogs are permitted except in the operational areas. contact Veolia to discuss your access requirements.

Business or trade waste

We do not manage business or trade waste. You can find more information about this and fly-tipping on our business waste page.

Abandoned vehicles

Around 150 vehicles are abandoned each year in East Sussex. We are working with the local district and borough councils and Sussex Police in a partnership to deal with this problem. For more information or to report an abandoned vehicle, see Operation Crackdown.

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