Appeal to keep recycling single-use plastics in Horsham during the coronavirus outbreak

Sussex Green Living is appealing for homes to help keep single-use plastic recycling going in the Horsham District during the coronavirus outbreak.
Crisp packets can be flattened and condensed into shoe boxes as a way to help sort single-use plastics for Sussex Green Living to recycle SUS-200330-132218001Crisp packets can be flattened and condensed into shoe boxes as a way to help sort single-use plastics for Sussex Green Living to recycle SUS-200330-132218001
Crisp packets can be flattened and condensed into shoe boxes as a way to help sort single-use plastics for Sussex Green Living to recycle SUS-200330-132218001

People are being urged to stockpile plastics at home, and even sort them to make it easier for a reduced number of volunteers to dispatch after sorting sessions in Horsham had to be cancelled due to the crisis.

Carrie Cort, founder of Sussex Green Living (SGL) said: “Over the last year the volume of donations has grown tenfold.

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“We have a wonderful team of volunteers we call the SGL Wombles who were helping sort every Wednesday afternoon at the Quaker Meeting House.

“We had to make the decision to stop those team sorting sessions last week.”

Two volunteers are going to try to keep the lesser volume now being received sorted and dispatched to TerraCyle – a service SGL has been offering since 2012 with the help of voulnteers.

Helen Whittington, the onsite warden of the Quaker Meeting House, will clean the handles on the bins in the meeting house garden daily as this is the main drop off location in the district, which also has six other parish locations and schools who collect.

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Joy Carter, who SGL endearingly call chief Womble, is going to remove the recycling to a remote location using personal protective gear and will try to sort it within 72 hours.

At this very difficult time, Sussex Green Living is hoping people will sort their stockpiled plastics to make it quicker and easier for Joy to dispatch.

Joy said: “If we stop collecting these specific single use plastics, West Sussex County Council transport them to Germany or Holland to be incinerated as refuse derived fuel.

“TerraCycle employ huge numbers of staff and are doing a brilliant job, if we suddenly stop dispatching materials to them staff will lose their jobs and the service will stop.”

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Sussex Green Living has dispatched hundreds of thousands of tonnes over the eight years it has provided this service.

Since December 2018 it started collecting crisp packets and have so far recycled 105,708.

Carrie said: “The good news is that the UK is bringing in new legislation in 2023 that will make rubbish the responsibility of businesses that create it.”

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To find out what can and can’t be recycled, visit https://www.sussexgreenliving.co.uk/sussex-green-living-recycling-guide-2