Nearly 300 Mid Sussex Homes Miss Waste Collection Each Week

Around 288 homes in Mid Sussex are missing their waste and recycling collections each week, councillors have been told.

The figure was revealed during a six-month review of the district's new 1-2-3 waste service.

The scheme provides weekly food waste collections, fortnightly recycling collections and general waste collections every three weeks to around 72,000 homes.

Chris Hobbs, cabinet member for leisure and customer services, acknowledged that the number of missed collections was “not acceptable”.

But he said introducing such a significant change to the way waste and recycling is collected was always likely to present “challenges and struggles”.

He added:

“This is a once in 20-year event that we've been through, and we as a relatively small council don't have a whole team of back-room staff to be able to deliver once in 20-year events.

“We have a very small waste management team – and I think they've risen exceptionally to the challenge.”

A report presented to councillors said that, as of April, 99.58 per cent of collections had been completed on time, alongside “significant improvements” in recycling performance.

However, Simon Hughes, the council's director of people and commercial services, acknowledged that the introduction of the 1-2-3 service had not been a positive experience for everyone.

More than 1,000 households complained or reported problems during the early stages of the rollout.

Issues included missed collections, broken food waste containers and “difficulties” for some people living in flats.

Mr Hughes said residents' “frustration is entirely understandable”.

Despite the initial problems, councillors were told the overall rollout had produced significant improvements.

The recycling rate has increased from 45 per cent between January and March to 61 per cent, putting it just four percentage points below the national target of 65 per cent, which must be achieved by 2035.

Over the same period, contamination of dry recycling fell from 5.86 per cent to 4.07 per cent.

The number of assisted collections for vulnerable residents also increased, from 1,092 households to 1,422.

The council's report said:

“More material is being collected, more of it is being recycled, contamination is reducing, and more households with support needs are being helped to use the service.”

Councillor Gary Marsh, who represents Ardingly, Balcombe and Turners Hill, described 1-2-3 as “a good service”.

But he questioned whether penalty clauses could be used against contractor Serco over missed collections.

He also asked whether there had been an increase in fly-tipping or residents taking rubbish to household waste recycling sites because it would not fit in their black bins.

Council officers said there had been a six-month period of grace regarding penalties.

They said no “specific issue” had been identified regarding use of the tip, while data on fly-tipping was not yet available.

Officers also reported that around 1.8 per cent of collections had been missed more than once over the previous nine weeks.

They said work was underway to address those repeat missed collections.