Alternate weekly waste collections to be introduced in February 2026

Lewes District Council will introduce alternate weekly collections for household waste and recycling in February 2026, to increase the district’s recycling rate.

The new system will see refuse (black sack waste) collected fortnightly, while recycling collections will also remain fortnightly, alternating with the refuse collection day. Crucially, weekly food waste collections will continue, along with weekly collections for non-infectious medical waste for those who register.

This follows an online engagement exercise indicating residents' appreciation for the Lewes district waste collection service, with 89% of the 2,150 respondents saying they were 'satisfied' or 'very satisfied' with it.

Councillor Wendy Maples, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhood Wellbeing, said:

“I am really pleased that the vast majority of our residents who took part in the survey are happy with our current waste service, recognising the hard work of our excellent crews. This positive feedback provides a solid foundation as we move towards a more sustainable collection system for our district.

“The resident engagement exercise indicates a high level of local support for the principle: 97 per cent of respondents think it is important or very important to recycle from home. And 71 per cent told us they currently put out a refuse bin each week that is not full.

The feedback we received through the survey and our 11 face-to-face pop-up sessions—which saw close to 800 new or additional bins requested— suggests that many residents are happy to embrace a two-weekly refuse collection, provided food waste and clinical waste services stay weekly.”

Based on other district and borough experiences, alternate weekly collections - while keeping food waste weekly -will encourage more people to use their food waste caddies and make best use of recycling collections. It will also reduce the council's carbon footprint by having fewer collection vehicles on the roads, and will reduce the volume of waste going to the incinerator.

Councillor Maples added: "We understand that any change can cause concern, so our priority is to make this transition as smooth as possible. The survey was an important part of that — and I am grateful to everyone who provided valuable feedback. Following on from this, we've expanded our alternate weekly collection FAQs and are making information readily available, including the full engagement report on our website at lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/awc

“To help residents prepare for the change, we remind them they can sign up for free food waste collections, request extra or bigger recycling bins, or request assisted collections.

These can all be done via the council website at lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/bins-waste-and-recycling.

For concerns about pests, residents are reminded to put the food waste caddy handle all the way forward to ‘lock’ the lid shut.”

Residents will be contacted in the new year with their new collection calendars detailing the exact start date for their household.