Adur and Worthing recycling scheme saves tonnes of electrical waste from landfill

In October 2022, Adur & Worthing Councils started its waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) collection service, which invites residents to ‘easily dispose’ of old or broken items such as toasters, kettles, radios and controllers for televisions or games consoles.

Since its launch, the sustainable service – ‘which comes at no additional cost for residents’ – has seen thousands of electrical items collected from people’s doorsteps.

“The councils estimate that households in Adur and Worthing throw away a combined 160 tonnes of electrical waste each year – meaning roughly a third of the area’s old electrical items have been collected and recycled thanks to the WEEE service,” a council spokesperson said.

“To use the service, residents can simply leave their unwanted electrical items out for collection alongside their bins on their standard bin day.

"Some flats are also going to receive a special pink-lidded bin, which is for electrical waste only. Initially, only housing blocks which can easily accommodate the new bins will receive them. There will be one bin per block.”

After being collected by a member of the councils’ waste and recycling teams, the items are then transferred to West Sussex County Council, which sends them to a specialist metal recycling facility near Lewes, East Sussex, for disposal.

Emma Evans, Adur’s cabinet member for the environment and leisure, said: “It’s really fantastic news to hear that our residents have made such great use of our newest collection service.

“Thanks to the work of locals, we have made real recycling gains in recent years, and the introduction of the WEEE scheme has only added to this work. I’d encourage our residents to continue doing all they can to help recycle their household waste and electrical items.”

Vicki Wells, Worthing cabinet member for the environment, said it’s ‘really positive’ to see a large number of electrical items recycled.

She said the items included food blenders, slow cookers, toasters, speakers, shavers and DVD players,

Councillor Wells added: “Everyone can do their bit to help the environment, so it’s great to see how many residents are recycling through the scheme and saving on multiple trips to the tip. My expectation is that the service goes from strength to strength, and we hope to adapt it to also collect batteries in the near future.”

Saturday, October 14 marked International E-Waste Day 2023, which served as a reminder that electrical waste ‘remains the fastest growing waste stream’ – both in the UK and around the world.

Adur and Worthing residents looking to clear an unwanted electrical item from their home can check whether it fits the councils’ guidelines here: https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/recycling-and-waste/what-you-can-recycle/#weee