The West Sussex Waste Partnership is excited to be launching the next phase of its highly successful ‘Think Before You Throw’ campaign with a new series of animations. These innovative animations are designed to address frequently asked questions from residents and make recycling in West Sussex as easy as possible.
Annual resident surveys revealed a significant increase in awareness about waste prevention and recycling practices following the first phase of the campaign. They also showed an improved knowledge about recycling commonly missed items, such as coffee cups and plastic takeaway containers. However, despite this progress, the surveys indicated that 61.9% of respondents still wanted more information on what can be recycled at home in West Sussex.
Building on this success, the West Sussex Waste Partnership have developed over 20 new short animations focusing on frequently asked questions about recycling and waste prevention, including videos on how to recycle bathroom packaging, coloured plastics, and cartons.
These new animations will provide an exciting opportunity to inform residents, not only about recycling at home but about the proper disposal of various materials. For example, making use of free kerbside collections for the disposal of vapes, which pose fire risks during disposal and need to be handled correctly. These videos will help residents understand how to manage these items, whether by taking them to a Recycling Centre or through kerbside recycling collections for small electrical items.
Cllr Deborah Urquhart, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change at West Sussex County Council, expressed her enthusiasm for the next phase of the campaign: “Our residents’ efforts have led to the successful reuse and recycling of over 200,000 tonnes of waste last year, which is a fantastic achievement. However, there is still more to be done. Our surveys show a strong desire from residents for additional guidance on recycling. These new animations aim to bridge that gap by providing clear, practical advice on recycling and waste prevention.
“We encourage everyone to ‘Think Before You Throw,’ especially with items like empty aerosols, cartons and batteries (that require special recycling services).”
The campaign continues to emphasize three core principles for effective recycling:
- CLEAN - free from food and drink leftovers - a quick rinse will often do.
- DRY - keep your recycling bin lid shut – soggy paper and cardboard can’t be recycled and can stick to other items or clog up machinery when sorted.
- LOOSE – not tied up in plastic bags, as the machinery cannot sort these.
This year’s earlier series of animations which already provided residents with valuable insights of the recycling and waste process and are still available on the West Sussex Recycles YouTube channel.
For more information on the Think Before You Throw campaign and to view the new animations, visit www.westsussex.gov.uk/ThinkBeforeYouThrow
About the West Sussex Waste Partnership
The West Sussex Waste Partnership (WSWP) comprises all seven district and borough councils, West Sussex County Council (WSCC) and its Recycling and Waste contractor, Biffa.
