Decision details

A number of West Sussex Household Waste Recycling Sites (HWRS) are located close to the County Council’s borders. Site-user postcode surveys indicate that a significant proportion (approximately 10%) of users at these sites are from outside of West Sussex. There are three main reasons:

·           West Sussex sites are more proximate or accessible to many Surrey, East Sussex and Brighton residents than sites provided by their own local authority.

·           Residents from out of county come into West Sussex to work and drop off material close to their workplace. For example, the Crawley HWRS provides a convenient facility for thousands of workers commuting into the Manor Royal Industrial Estate.

·           Surrounding counties have more restrictions on the type of material that is accepted, without charge, at West Sussex sites.

The situation has worsened since East Sussex County Council closed the nearest of its sites to East Grinstead and introduced charging for soil and hardcore in 2018. This year, Surrey County Council has further increased the restrictions on the type of waste material received at their sites.

As a result, West Sussex is a net importer of household waste. By limiting the use of HWRS to West Sussex residents, there will be a subsequent reduction in household waste and savings of approximately £250k/year will be made.

The Cabinet Member for Environment has approved the proposal to restrict non-West Sussex residents from using the Household Waste Recycling sites within West Sussex, by adopting a policy which uses the measures set out in paragraph 2 of the report, effective from 1 December 2019.

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