The future of refuse, recycling and food waste collection in Arun
In November 2023, the government announced that councils must introduce a weekly food waste collection service for all households from 1 April 2026.
Arun District Council has been awarded £1,665,840 from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to help introduce this service.
At a meeting of the council’s Environment Committee this week, approval was given to a range of services to be provided under a new combined cleansing services contract (CCSC).
From 1 Feb 2026, the council will offer a weekly kerbside food waste collection, along with fortnightly rubbish collection from a council supplied 180 litre bin and continuation of the fortnightly dry mixed recycling collection.
The new contract will also continue to include small waste electrical and electrical equipment collections, a subscriber-based garden waste collections service and the introduction of recycling opportunities for items such as textiles, batteries and coffee pods.
Street cleansing services will see little change, apart from specifications updated in line with current legislation/guidelines and local needs.
The council previously operated a very successful food waste collection trial for 1,350 properties in the district.
Participation of more than 85% with satisfaction of 85% for food waste collections and 73% for three-weekly residual collections was very high for the trial. It proved that the majority of residents would make use of a weekly food waste collection and accept less frequent residual waste collections.
Councillor Sue Wallsgrove, Chair of the Environment Committee at Arun District Council, said: “The figures show that more than 42% by weight of residual waste in Arun is food waste.
“If collected separately, food waste can be processed via anaerobic digestion which is a much more efficient and environmentally friendly way of processing and provides higher value end products in the form of biogas and fertiliser. A reduction in food waste is generally seen in other authorities where food waste collections have been operating for a period of time, as residents change behaviours. Environmentally this is the best outcome.”
In areas where it is physically not possible to have a wheeled rubbish bin for each resident, an alternative solution will be introduced.
Currently residents receive 78 core collections per year (52 rubbish and 26 recycling). Under the proposals in this report residents will receive 104 collections per year (52 food waste, 26 rubbish & 26 recycling).
The council’s most recent confirmed annual recycling rate is 42.93% of which approximately 25.33% is dry mixed recycling and 17.60% is garden waste.
Cllr Wallsgrove added: “We need to work with our community to not only reduce waste, but to increase recycling to meet future targets of a 55% recycling rate by 2025 and 60% by 2030. The new contract will make people more aware of what they’re putting in their bins and we’re confident it will lead to a change in habits.”