The recycling rate has reached a record high in Brighton and Hove, according to new data, the council said.
The figures show an increase of 7.2 percentage points and follow Labour’s pledge to improve the dismal recycling rate as one of its key goals when it took charge in May 2023.
Since then, the party said that it had made a series of improvements – first, adding new bins for food and drink cartons and electrical items and then adding a wider range of plastics to kerbside and communal collections last year.
In September 2025, Brighton and Hove City Council started weekly food waste collections and now collects almost 500 tons of food waste a month.
All this work is now starting to show in the data, Labour said, with figures for January to March lifting the recycling rate to 31.6 per cent, the highest level ever recorded in Brighton and Hove.
The 7.2-point improvement is for the first quarter of the calendar year compared with the same quarter last year.
There was a corresponding fall in “residual waste”, the general refuse that is sent to the “energy recovery facility” – commonly referred to as the incinerator – in Newhaven.
Labour councillor Tim Rowkins, deputy leader and cabinet member for net zero and environmental services, said: “Sorting out our recycling was one of the main reasons I decided to stand for election.
“We’d all been told that it wasn’t possible due to a historical waste contract but, having read the contract myself, I knew that was not the case.
“Residents up and down the city were incredulous that a city like Brighton and Hove could have some of the worst recycling rates in the country.
“We’ve had two Green-run councils and a Green MP and yet we still had to chuck our yoghurt pots in the bin.
“This new data finally shows the reversal of the downward trend and makes us even more determined to continue making more improvements.”
He added that, soon, more materials would be included in recycling collections and that the council was planning a communications blitz on contamination – people putting materials in their recycling that cannot be recycled.
Brighton and Hove was the first council in Sussex to bring in food waste collections after Lewes District Council which has recycled food waste for some years.
Obviously Tim will be well aware that the council didn’t choose to bring in food recycling – it was brought in under the Conservative government’s Environment Act 2021.
He will also be well aware that having a Green MP will have no impact whatsoever on how a council operates, but it sure does sound like a good line of attack!
He should also be aware that he’s lying – or at the very least stretching the truth – about the Veolia contract. In fact, the council itself (under a previous Labour administration) claimed it was being prevented from recycling some materials because waste contractor Veolia was refusing to alter the terms of its PFI waste disposal contract.
But truth is extremely flexible under Sankey’s Labour council.
Well done to the people who have commented already to highlight what a load of rubbish (pun intended) Cllr Tim Rowkins is spouting.
It just looks dodgy and dishonest to gloss over important facts, like the fact the 2024 changes in legislation forced councils EVERYWHERE to collect and recycle items, like yoghurt pots. The government also gave Brighton and Hove City Council millions in new burdens funding to implement the new legislation – which included a lump sum of £2.4 MILLION to set up a food waste service and they also received a payment of around £5.3 MILLION from the new Extended Producer Responsibility money (collected from companies based on packaging waste).
If Tim did in fact read the contract, I wonder if he also read details of Veolia previously saying how much money it would cost to instal the equipment needed to recycle yoghurt pots and that they (Veolia) would not pay for this?
Great that legislation changed and that there was government funding that came with it, so the council could make sure the recycling depot now has the equipment needed installed to make sure expanded recycling could happen.(funding from prev Tory government bizarrely not the current Labour one, the legislation also passed under the Tories)
Once again disappointing to see a Cabinet member in Bella’s Labour administration truth-twisting like this and missing out key details – it reflects badly on them as a whole.
I have a feeling some of these comments are from Green members (or councillors)!
The Environment Act 2021 included a requirement to collect a standardised set of materials for recycling and introduce food waste. The mandated date for this was the end of March 2026.
The expanded plastics were introduced a year before that deadline. BHCC was also the first council in Sussex to introduce food waste, in September 2025 (with the exception of Lewes, who had it in place for years).
By the looks of it, these new figures cover the period BEFORE the mandated date, so claiming this was all forced by the Tories in 2021 seems a bit desperate! Credit where it’s due!
I have a feeling some of these comments are from Labour members (or councillors)!
The Brighton Labour manifesto said the following in 2023:
“Labour will investigate increasing the range of items that can be recycled and will introduce a food waste collection service.”
Cleverly worded to make it look like it was all their decision, rather than something that was mandated by government. So yes, credit is due – they did something before the deadline. Well done(!)
Oh Emma! Lady Bracknell is becoming rather concerned by this habit of assuming that anyone who asks an awkward question of Brighton Labour must immediately be unmasked as a Green member or, heavens above, a councillor. 😱
Some of us are perfectly capable of applauding improved recycling and wondering whether the political packaging tells quite the whole story. One really needn’t join a political party to manage two thoughts at once.
Still, in the interests of transparency, perhaps you could tell us whether you have any connection to Brighton Labour? Lady Bracknell has asked Katy the same question, so it would be terribly unfair not to extend the invitation.
Credit where it’s due, certainly. Transparency where it’s due too, surely? 😉
Possibly but the city is actually seeing things being done under Labour. All I remember the Greens doing is contributing to climate change by constantly talking and talking and spouting hot air.
We need a city that is moving forward and things are getting done.
Little by little things are changing.
Hello again, Katy! You do have a remarkable knack for appearing whenever there is an opportunity to praise Labour or administer a little kick to the Greens.
So, in the interests of transparency, perhaps you might finally satisfy Lady Bracknell’s curiosity and confirm whether you have any connection to Brighton Labour?
You have also developed the curious habit of overlooking every question about what is actually going on within the local Labour group – particularly why so many of its councillors have resigned, stepped down or defected since 2023. For someone usually so eager to discuss the shortcomings of others, the sudden silence is rather conspicuous.
Come now, Katy. Lady Bracknell does so dislike an unanswered question.
As much as you want to cry on, this council has fixed a lot of roads, city clean is a lot better than it use to be and there has been a lot less stupid spending on vanity projects. Elections soon so maybe stand as a councillor if you think you can do better
I assume you’re not a scientist Katy if you think climate change is down to people talking.
Changes I’ve seen to date are libraries being closed, Bright Start nursery effectively being closed, day centres for adults with learning difficulties (Wellington House) threatened with closure, the council proposing to outsource a paddling pool because they can’t afford to run it themselves, the closure of New England House (another nail in the coffin of Brighton’s amazing creative industries), the £260,000 wasted on trees that the council let die at Hove Beach Park, that shameful eviction of the homeless man at Madeira Terrace which cost the council £36,000, the reintroduction of poisonous glyphosate on the streets of Brighton, the dreadful CQC rating the council received for its adult social care services which prompted a section 50 notification to the Secretary of State to highlight the serious failures found, and many more alarming changes – not least making it harder for residents and opposition councillors to scrutinise council decision-making.
When you say “things are getting done”, I’d prefer it if they left well alone if the things being done are any of the above. Changing for the worse is not a good thing Katy.
And you can attribute most of those to what the Tory government cut through austerity measures for 14 years, because consequences lag like that. Let’s remind ourselves that they wasted £130 billion in the last five years, that’s cut councils across the country to the bone, and it’s not something that can be easily remedied overnight.
New England House was a failure of Greens to ensure the safety of the building. That condemned building was enforced by the Fire Service. That wasn’t a choice, any colour of council would have had to make the same decision.
Glyphosate is only known to be potentially harmful in excessive industrial-level quantities, and in response to concerns, Labour introduced a droplet form to minimise risk, which they didn’t have to do, and introduced the opt-out scheme, which they also didn’t have to do, so taking a very sensible and pragmatic approach.
Three points:
1) The Previous Conservative Government brought in The Separation of Waste (England) Regulations 2024, which forced councils to collect food waste and all plastics if they weren’t already doing so. So this wasn’t an initiative by Labour. The Government provided additional funding, alongside council funding.
2) The Greens have only ever run the council as a minority and so have always been dependent on other parties to pass anything.
3) Previous calls for food waste trials never got off the ground because all three main parties in Brighton & Hove didn’t see it as a priority, there wasn’t any additional Government funding and the council was dealing with massive Government cuts to council services.
However, our council did introduce it earlier than it needed to, taking a proactive stance towards recycling, rather than doing it simply because they had to, and gaining access to additional funding helps the overall service.
Council are still dealing with the aftermath of Tory austerity, that bit hasn’t changed, but I agree that the additional funding is helpful.
Unfortunately, Brighton Greens have a terrible track record on even proposing green initiatives; which is a shame, because data always show that progressives are in favour of those kinds of initiatives, so would not likely encounter difficulty in passing; being a minority hasn’t been a factor.
It’s no use residents recycling if the council don’t collect it though and many roads can go a month or two without collection. Please tell the other side of the story about how recycling collection rates have nosedived, particularly since the food bin collection service was rolled out. They just don’t have the capacity. Or enough reliable dustcarts with up to 40% of them off the road for repairs at any given time. Also Cllr Rowkins doesn’t mention that the 30 year contract with Veolia entails selling our waste to that company to transport it toi Newhaven Energy Reovery Plant to burn it and turn into into electricity to sell off.
So what REALLY happens to our recycled items – typically the most burnable? Has Cllr Rowkins travelled on the same journey as our waste to find out what really happens to it when it gets to Newhaven?
If only there was a simpler explanation.
The “Green” party record on recycling was DIRE.
No. It was worse than dire.
Due to the Veolia contract. It has been no better under Labour administrations until the Environment Act 2021 kicked in and forced councils to collect food waste and all plastics if they weren’t before. As a cabinet member, Tim is well aware of that fact, but is choosing to obfuscate instead.
Doh – Tim is wrong again, there have been 2 Green MPs elected in Brighton and Hove.
If he is under the strange (and incorrect) belief that MPs have any direct influence on the council’s bin collections, he may also want to note that since Brighton and Hove City Council merged, there have been 5 Labour MPs (in addition to the 2 Green ones). Tim may also want to refresh his knowledge on what a council is responsible for and what Parliament is responsible for. By implying MPs are somehow responsible for council matters suggests a worrying misunderstanding of the different roles councillors and MPs have on Tim’s part. I’ve listed MPs in case Cllr Rowkins has a problem understanding facts and interpreting detail:
Labour – 5 MPs since 1997 – (Ivor Caplin, Celia Barlow, Peter Kyle, Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Chris Ward)
Conservative – 2 MPs since 1997 (Mike Weatherley and Simon Kirby)
Green – 2 MPs since 1997 (Caroline Lucas and Sian Berry)
Hope this helps clear things up for Tim. His inference about MP influence in council operational decisions does beg the question though, were the 5 Labour MPs just not interested in improving recycling rates in the past if he is implying MPs from other parties weren’t…
FYI – Tim may be interested to know that during the same timeframe there have been 6 Labour-led administrations at Brighton and Hove City Council, and there only would have been 1 Green-led administration had the 2019 Labour administration not collapsed due to infighting in 2020).
Facts are important, and as Tim seems to have got his facts wrong in many areas in what he says, just correcting his MP one and flagging there have been 5 Labour MPs (in case he had simply forgotten).
Clearly under the influence of Ms Sankey’s “castles in the air” leadership style. To think Cllr Rowkins is a Council Deputy Leader too. Let’s hope they are all binned with no recycling option – at the next local election.
When they going to start taking foil containers?
This was promised at the start of the year and still does not happen
All of the comments about the greeens not being at fault is crazy.
1. The greens didnt not introduce food bins even when they could have and there is nothing stopping them in the contract with viola.
2. The greens has a majorty of seats in 2015 -23 seats
AND MINOROTY CONTROL
2019.
3. also the greens procided over nearly 80 million pounds of debts
So anyone is better then the greens its that simple.
What are you talking about. Labour won the local elections in 2015, 2019, and 2023. Labour returned the most councillors and formed administrations.
Perhaps your name ‘A’ is a pseudonym Cllr Tim Rowkins uses to post comments on B&H News articles, as you seem to have a similar grasp of ‘facts’ to him.
An improvement is welcome. But 31.6% is still far below England’s average of 43% and even further behind Wales’ average of 57% (so nearly double our rate). As a school report would say, good start but more work needed
Frankly I don’t believe it. Recycling is all theatre in this city.
Great thing about this is that personal incredulity is easily resolved; you can literally go see for yourself.
Frankly I don’t believe it. Recycling is all theatre in this city.
Food waste which in all schemes peaks and then drops is hiding situation that adding pots and trays resulted in less plastic being recycled.
Communal bins can’t get recycling past 30% with an engaged population and an effective collection with processing infrastructure.
Brighton has lost the trust of the population on this and the collection plus processing dictated by Veolia for BHCC to make a song and dance about.
KMA Benny