What will happen to my food waste?

Separate food waste collections are being rolled out across Sussex this year in an effort to boost recycling.

Research carried out by the BBC shows five out of 13 authorities will not have food waste collection services fully in place by the Government's 31 March deadline.

Sussex councils say 40% of the waste that currently goes into general waste bins is food waste.

Waste collected in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove will be made into compost while waste from West Sussex will go to an anaerobic digester to generate biogas energy and bio-fertiliser for farms.

The Mabey family lives in Lewes, where the district council has already been collecting food waste since 2013.

Bryn Mabey said: "We use it loads and loads. There's very little that goes into our general waste. We're putting it out full every week.

"It's a way to dispose of our food waste without feeling guilty."

Rosie, aged 12, said: "It's not just fruit and vegetables, we use it for bread crusts and egg shells."

Nine-year-old Albi added: "And for leftovers and coffee grains and tea bags."

All the food waste from East Sussex and Brighton & Hove will be taken to the Woodlands In-Vessel Composting facility in Whitesmith, near Golden Cross, run by Veolia.

Manager Colin Hirsh said: "All this used to go into landfill, now we make a really high quality product with it that helps condition our soil.

"We're really proud of what we do here."

He said while 3,000 tonnes of waste were collected from Lewes district in 2013, subsequent years have seen just 1,000 tonnes collected.

"We think once people saw the amount of waste they were producing they took action to reduce what they wasted," he added.

Research carried out by the BBC has found local authorities in Adur, Chichester, Eastbourne, Horsham, and Worthing will not have their services fully up and running until later in the year.

Some have blamed the challenge of rolling out caddies to rural areas, uncertainty over funding and long lead times for delivery of food waste collection trucks.

In November 2025, Mid Sussex District Council rolled out weekly food waste collections to 72,000 homes alongside a new '1-2-3' system of weekly food collections, fortnightly recycling and three-weekly refuse collections.

Residents will receive a five-litre kitchen caddy, a 23-litre or larger outdoor bin, and a supply of compostable liners.

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