Appointments can now be made to visit any Recycling Centre in West Sussex, ahead of the expansion of the ‘Book to Recycle’ system from 12 February 2024.

From 12 February residents will need to book a slot before they visit any Recycling Centre in West Sussex, which will now include Billingshurst, Burgess Hill, East Grinstead, Midhurst, and Chichester Recycling Centres.

Slots can be booked up to 14 days in advance. So, from 29 January residents will be able to start to book ahead to attend the Recycling Centres which are being added to the system.

Residents can continue to visit Billingshurst, Burgess Hill, East Grinstead, Midhurst, and Chichester Recycling Centres without an appointment until 12 February.

Once the system expands on 12 February residents will also be able to book appointments for the same day where available.

The booking system has been successfully implemented at Bognor Regis, Crawley, Horsham, Littlehampton, Shoreham-By-Sea, and Worthing since 2021. The system has been welcomed by residents with a recent satisfaction survey resulting in 96% of existing users saying the system was either ‘excellent’ or ‘good’.

The booking system provides visitors with more time and opportunity to recycle by ensuring items are disposed of in the correct area, rather than just being put into general waste.

It also enables staff more time to offer recycling advice and divert more materials to recycling. This reduces the amount of waste being processed, makes the sites more efficient, and ultimately helps to lower the cost of disposal.

Cllr Deborah Urquhart, West Sussex County Council Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “The Book to Recycle system makes a visit to a Recycling Centre easy and efficient with staff having more time to help visitors and also means queues can be avoided.

“Ultimately, as set out in Our Council Plan, we want to ensure value for money and to increase recycling wherever possible and this scheme helps us to do that.”

The Book to Recycle system also helps the county council prevent the illegal deposit of commercial waste at Recycling Centres, which in turn reduces the amount of waste it processes. Businesses must meet their own waste management costs. The Recycling Centres are funded by local council taxpayers for the disposal of West Sussex residents’ household waste and meeting the cost of processing commercial waste places an additional burden on local taxpayers.

Deborah added: “Booking a slot is quick and easy and appointments can be made for the same day where available, or up to 14 days in advance if preferred. Slots can be booked online or over the phone in a matter of minutes.”

Slots are now available and can be booked for all sites by clicking here or calling 01243 642106.

Click here to find out more about your local Recycling Centre including opening times.