Major expansion of recycling provision
We are pleased to announce a significant expansion of the materials the council collects for recycling, coming this spring.
In addition, we are investing £1.2 million to rollout food waste collections across the city later this year as part of our budget.
Expanding our recycling offer
From May 2025, residents will be able to put a wider range of materials in their household kerbside or communal mixed recycling collections.
New materials we will be accepting include:
- Plastic pots, tubs and trays – such as yoghurt pots, fruit trays/punnets, margarine tubs, and soup pots
- Food and drink cartons – including Tetra Paks (fruit juice, plant-based milks etc.), gravy tubs, crisp tubes, kids drink cartons, and soup cartons
- Aluminium foil and foil trays
Currently residents need to find alternative schemes if they want to recycle these items, but from this spring it can all go in with the mixed recycling.
These new materials will be recycled as part of the council’s waste contract.
Introducing food waste collections
The council is committing £1.2 million of our budget allocation this year to a new food waste service in Brighton & Hove.
Rollout of this new service is due to start later this year.
Over ten million tonnes of food is wasted every year in the UK and more than a third of household rubbish in Brighton & Hove is food and drink waste.
Once collected, the food waste will be sent to a composting facility.
Councillor Tim Rowkins, Cabinet member for Net Zero and Environmental Services, said: “I’m extremely pleased to be announcing this dramatic expansion of our recycling service.
“Our recycling rates have been historically low compared to other local authorities, and making these improvements has been a top priority for the council.
“Getting these additional materials, including the food waste, out of the general refuse will improve our recycling rates and of course simultaneously reduce the amount of residual household waste across the city.
“For years there has been a myth that these improvements cannot be made because of a legacy contract that restricts what we can recycle. I am pleased to bust that myth by delivering these changes, which residents have been requesting for years.
“We look forward to working with our waste disposal contractor to ensure that these changes are successful.
“While the expansion of mixed recycling will be in place in the spring, getting food waste up and running will take a little longer as we need to get the right vehicles, equipment and processes in place, as well as establish the new collection rounds.
“Until the expanded service is operational, please don’t put these new items in with recycling or it will contaminate the load and could mean it all ends up as waste. We’ll let you know the exact start date shortly.”
Find out what items can and cannot be recycled in Brighton & Hove and where to recycle them.