Pevensey and Westham Primary School revealed as winners for food waste truck naming competition

William the Composter has been announced as the public’s ultimate favourite name for the new vehicles collecting the food waste in Wealden, Hastings and Rother.

Food waste collections will be starting in spring this year, as part of this initiative a competition for local schools to name the new trucks was launched by Wealden District Council, Hastings Borough Council and Rother District Council.

An educational pack was given to local schools to encourage fun and creative learning about food waste, and they were asked to submit their ideas of what the 20 new food waste fleet vehicles should be called.

The response was excellent and twenty names were picked by the East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership which will be printed on the new food waste vehicles. These names include SpongeBob Scrapants, Sir-eats-a lot, The Very Hungry Caddy-Filler, Peels on Wheels.

Following the announcement of the names, a public vote was launched to choose the ultimate favourite truck name from the 20 shortlisted names.

The winning school was Pevensey and Westham Primary School with William the Composter - The school will be getting a visit from Biffa and the winning named food waste truck.

Councillor James Partridge, Alliance for Wealden (Liberal Democrat) lead councillor for Governance, Waste & Local Economy and leader of the council, said, “What a fantastic response - over 1000 entries to find the public's favourite name, with the British sense of humour much in evidence. Congratulations to Pevensey and Westham Primary School. This competition has also been a great way for all ages to understand more about the food waste, why it’s being introduced, where the food waste goes and what it is used for.”  

Councillor Jo Walker, lead for Environment and Neighbourhood Wellbeing at Hastings Borough Council and chair of the East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership, said, “It was great to see such enthusiasm from our community to have their say on the name for these new food waste trucks. Congratulations to Pevensey and Westham Primary School for their excellent choice of name, William the Composter. I hope this has been a good way to get the message about the introduction of food waste collections out across all ages and I look forward to seeing the new trucks with their names on across the county.” 

Councillor Hazel Timpe, portfolio holder for neighbourhood services, tourism and waste at Rother District Council, said, “I would like to congratulate everyone who took part in the food waste truck naming competition – especially all the schools from across Rother.  The children have had a lot of fun coming up with names for the vehicles and at the same time learnt more about the importance of food waste recycling.”

Trevor Elliott, Biffa’s senior business manager, said, “We’re really pleased to be part of this initiative and to see so much creativity from schools across Wealden, Hastings and Rother. The competition has been a great way to get young people and families talking about food waste and recycling. Working with the East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership and our council partners, we’re proud to support activities that help households recycle more and waste less. We’re looking forward to bringing William the Composter to Pevensey and Westham Primary School to celebrate their winning idea."

The council has set up an information and FAQ webpage for residents, please click here: https://www.wealden.gov.uk/recycling-and-waste/how-does-your-service-work/food-waste/food-waste-faqs/