Recycling in Haywards Heath

Recycle this…

Recycling tips for West Sussex

WSCC Recycling Ambassador Colin McFarlin regularly shares his knowledge with the community on the tricky matter of recycling in our domestic blue bins and food waste. We, here at Haywards Heath Life, will be collecting all his invaluable tips and tricks and displaying them here on this handy online guide. We aim to add new recycling tips when they becomes available, so be sure to check back.
All the information collected here was correct at the time it went to press. To check it is still correct please email the editor at editor@haywardsheath.life

Important note: All items for recycling should be:

  • Clean - free from food and drink leftovers

  • Dry - keep your recycling bin lid shut

  • Loose - no plastic bags

Did you know that you now need to book an appointment to visit a recycling centre in West Sussex?

This is to cut down on long queues and give our staff more time to offer help and give you recycling advice. Here are the key points...
- Appointments are available 14 days in advance. www.westsussex.gov.uk/BookToRecycle
- You need to provide the registration number of the vehicle you will be attending the centre in when you book. If you are hiring a vehicle and this is unknown, you will be asked to show the hire paperwork at the centre.
- Anyone using a Recycling Centre is still required to provide proof of residency in West Sussex. You will still need to show one form of identification.

MSDC app

MSDC have introduced a free app for mobile phones for recycling, and all their other services. Simply go to you usual app store on your smartphone, search for Mid Sussex District Council and install. It is free to download.
This is a single, easy to use app. On the front screen, you will see you can report online 12 different issues, from reporting dog fouling, a problem with a parked car, reporting an abandoned vehicle, and reporting a missed bin collection. Also, you can view all your own bin and waste collections and even set yourself a reminder to put the correct bins out.

Old computers and IT

Have a clear out of all those old IT items and cables sitting in a drawer or box. MSDC will collect small electrical items and recycle them. Kerbside collections of small electrical appliances and household batteries are every two weeks.

Items should be left out with your scheduled black lid rubbish bin. Collection space on the bin lorry is very limited. If your collection is missed, please hold on to your items and place them out with your next scheduled black top rubbish bin.

Keep the cable with the item. Little and often, in a plastic carrier bag helps. Recycling – take data cables, phones, tablets and desktop PCs to Vodafone stores.

Items accepted are: small electrical appliances such as IT and smart devices like desktop PCs; laptops; tablets; fax machines; printers; phones; smartphones; smart speakers and fitness wearables.


Repair – does your local Repair Café repair electrical items?

Recycling – take to your local recycling centre – the tip. Did you know that all electricals taken to the tip are recycled? To find your nearest local electrical recycling site, I would recommend this website: www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk Do use the filter option: by item/ distance, for lots more options; donate; repair; recycle.

Blister Packs

There have been changes in our recycling process of blister packs. Your blue top recycling bin can now only accept blister packs that are made of foil on both sides. Always check before you throw that there are no tablets left in the packaging.

Many blister packs are plastic (of various colours) on one side and foil on the other. Going forward, we ask that you put this type of blister pack into either your black top rubbish bin or, preferably, take them to any Boots store and drop them off into their green recycling bin. Ask in store if you cannot find their bin.

Are you aware of the Boots Recycling scheme?
The Recycle at Boots initiative allows customers to recycle hard to recycle health and beauty empties from any brand and empty blister packs, as long as they have a Boots Advantage Card.
To get rewarded for it, customers need to: 1) register and opt in by downloading the Recycle at Boots App; 2) log empty items in the app and wait for up to 24 hours until they are validated; 3) bring their empty packs into a participating Boots store and scan the QR code on the deposit box.

Supermarket food netting

The photo shows a number of different nets that are used for packaging of all sorts of foodstuffs. The label sometimes says do not recycle, and sometime recyclable?

All of these plastic nets, labels and clips can be recycled. They can all go into your favourite supermarket flexible plastic recycling bin.

They are not recyclable in your home blue top recycling bin.

These bags are all are made of a similar plastic material. One explanation for the different recycling instructions is that the products have been packed overseas and are sold to many different markets in different countries, not just the UK, and it is not possible to provide recycling instructions for every country, so they take the easy option and say ‘not recyclable’.

For an up to date list of the flexible plastics that Sainsbury’s and the Co-op recycle do have a look at the following links:

https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/sustainability/plan-for-better/our-stories/2021/flexible-plastics

https://www.coop.co.uk/environment/soft-plastics