Local councillors joined contractors Kier Longley for a site tour to mark the official opening of a new household waste recycling site in Newhaven recently.

The new facility, at the former Haven Foundry in New Road, opened to the public last week and replaces the existing, outdated waste recycling site on Lewes Road which had come to the end of its operational life. The new site will help local residents with the efficient disposal and recycling of household waste.

East Sussex County Council (ESCC) invested more than £2m to acquire the land for the new facility and contracted Kier Longley to design & build a split level site which accommodates several more containers for separating household waste then there was available at the previous site. Users of the new site will also benefit from no longer have to climb steps to put their waste into the containers.

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A new road system has been designed to make the running of the site more efficient. This includes a dedicated lorry area which means that the facility does not have to close while full containers are being replaced, and a vehicle queuing lane prevents traffic from having to wait on the road outside the site when it is busy.

The site was funded by a specific government grant to improve waste and recycling infrastructure and will help ESCC achieve its target of half of all household waste being recycled by 2020.

ESCC lead cabinet member for economy, transport and environment, Cllr Carl Maynard, commented: "I'm delighted residents of Newhaven, Peacehaven and Telscombe now have this modern, convenient facility to recycle such a wide range of materials. We all need to play a part in helping to reduce the amount of waste we produce, and increase the amount we reuse and recycle. This new site is a fantastic addition to East Sussex’s waste infrastructure."

(CD/GK)