FAQs

A bag helps store multiple items and also keeps leads and cables neatly together. Plastic bags are also more weather proof than paper bags.

Plastic bags are able to be recycled after collection just as they are when placed in your recycling bins

Please only put out one bag per household to ensure everything can fit in the compartments in the vehicles. If you have a lot of electrical items to dispose of at any one time please take them to a Household Waste Recycling site.

If the electrical items won't fit into a carrier bag then it is too large to fit into the compartments on our collection vehicles. Please takes these larger items to a Household Waste and Recycling Site.

Batteries are a huge fire risk. Last year there were six fires at depots in Sussex because of batteries. Lithium ion batteries found in most gadgets are a particular risk as they can set alight when damaged by compactors in our waste trucks. For this reason we ask that batteries are placed in a separate carrier bag so that we can recycle them safely.

Electrical items are separated into the various different components for recycling in Lewes and then sold to customers depending on demand and market conditions. Household batteries collected at the kerbside are taken to a facility in Garforth, Leeds, where they are bulked and sent on for recycling. The bulked batteries are taken to one of two specialist facilities in Belgium where they go through a chemical treatment process before being recycled. The resources gained from recycling batteries are the very same materials being mined in other parts of the world.

These areas are covered by a different waste and recycling contractor. Please visit your local district or borough council to find out more about what you can and can't recycle and for any updates to your service.