A new pact to bring recycling levels in West Sussex up to 45 per cent has been launched.

The Memorandum of Understanding commits West Sussex County Council as well as the districts and boroughs of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Crawley, Horsham, Mid Sussex and Worthing to support a new contract that will deliver a recycling rate of 45 per cent by 2015.

The contract is supported by the Government as part of a £25 million Private Finance Initiative that will contribute an annual fee and running costs towards the capital investment needed.

It will provide new and improved facilities for managing waste across West Sussex, carried out as part of a rolling programme beginning next year. Improvements to civic amenity sites (CAS) in Worthing, Burgess Hill, East Grinstead, Littlehampton, Westhampnett, in Chichester and Crawley, a new site for Billingshurst and a replacement site at the Sompting waste management complex are all included.

The project will also cover new composting facilities.