East Sussex County Council, Brighton & Hove City Council and the South Downs National Park Authority have asked members of the public to submit suggestions on where new recycling and recovery facilities could be situated in the county.

Residents, landowners, public bodies and those representing the waste industry are being asked to suggest additional sites in East Sussex and Brighton & Hove that could be used to sort, recycle and recover waste produced in the area.

Sites that will be considered include general industrial land, land used for employment, previously developed land and land already used for waste management. A shortlist of suitable sites will go out for public consultation next spring.

‘More important than ever’ to recycle

The call forms part of the authorities’ Waste and Minerals Development Framework (adopted in February) which aims to divert ‘nearly all of the area's waste’ from landfill by 2015/16 by reusing and recycling waste material into new products and recovering energy from materials that cannot be recycled.

Councillor Carl Maynard, Lead Member for the Environment at East Sussex County Council, said: “While residents have achieved high levels of recycling [39 per cent in 2011/12], some of the waste produced by businesses in the plan area still ends up in landfill.”

“With the Pebsham landfill site, the only operating site in East Sussex, closing this summer and no plans for others to be opened, it is more important than ever to ensure we have enough facilities to enable as much waste to be recycled or recovered as possible.”

The types of activities that will take place on selected sites include management of waste as well as the storage of waste, shredding, sorting and composting.

According to Councillor Pete West, Chair of Brighton & Hove City Council's Environment Committee, the council is focused on providing support to encourage people to minimise the waste they produce and save resources.

He said: “We urge residents to ask themselves whether items could be repaired or reused before throwing them away, and to compost and recycle as much waste as possible.”

Birghton & Hove City Council recycled, reused or composted just 28 per cent of its household waste in 2011/12.

The councils have said that any new planning application for waste management will take into account ‘the concerns and interest of the local community and take advantage of any benefits for those communities’.

Andrew Shaxson, Chairman of the South Downs National Park Authority's Planning Committee, added: “We've worked closely with East Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council to get the right tools in place to protect the landscape, environment and communities of the National Park. This plan will help to guide major waste and mineral developments away from protected landscapes."

Anyone wishing to propose a site for waste management is asked to contact the council by email or by entering relevant information online.