The new service is easy to use, simply requiring residents to empty any leftover food, like plate scrapings, peelings and tea bags, into their new kitchen caddy rather than their general waste bin. 

When the kitchen caddy is full, the contents should be emptied into the orange-lidded outside food waste recycling bin ready for collection every week. 

Last week the councils’ new specialist smaller collection vehicles and newly-recruited staff collected 72.3 tonnes of food waste from thousands of homes across Adur and Worthing. 

The food waste is transported to a processing plant near Horsham, operated on behalf of West Sussex County Council. 

At the plant, the waste will undergo anaerobic digestion, a process that converts waste into biofertiliser and renewable energy. The biofertiliser will be supplied to local farmers for use on their fields, while the energy generated will power the plant itself, with any surplus energy exported to the national grid to provide power for homes.

Teething problems with the new vehicles meant that a small number of collections were unfortunately missed in the first week. The councils aim to quickly return to any missed bins reported by residents online, but are confident that there will be fewer issues now that the new service has had time to establish.      

The roll-out across Adur and Worthing is taking place in two phases. The councils will contact residents in phase two about when their collections will start at a later date. 

Residents can easily look up their bin day on the councils’ website or sign up for reminders on their smartphone via an app here: https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/bin-day/.

For more information on how the service works and answers to some frequently asked questions please visit: https://www.adur-worthing.gov.uk/food-waste/.