Chichester Festival Theatre visits the materials recycling facility

We recently invited Chichester Festival Theatre behind the scenes of the Materials Recycling Facility (MRF), located at Ford, to get a better insight into what happens to their recycling once our teams have collected it.

Ben Geering, Head of Operations at Chichester Festival Theatre, and Keith White, our Senior Key Accounts Officer, tell us about the benefits of the visit:

Ben:"We have worked closely with the Business Waste & Recycling Service at Chichester District Council for many years, and we are proud of what we've achieved so far, especially the fact that we now recycle so many different waste streams. Achieving zero waste to landfill was very important to us and we're continuing to work hard to increase our recycling rates."

"We have always been intrigued to better understand what happens to our recycling once it has been collected by the crews.  With that in mind, Keith arranged a tour of the MRF for us so we can see for ourselves what happens."

"Part of the tour included an educational session. This really helped us to understand how so many items can be recycled in one bin, but also why the recycling had to be clean, dry and loose and the impact it would have if it wasn't."

"We were really impressed to see the facility in action and amazed to see over one hundred conveyor belts segregating the materials with state-of-the-art technology; one of my team commenting that 'it was mesmerizing'. The tour definitely helped to re-emphasise the benefits of recycling and the positive impact that it has on the environment and our business."

"We have a great relationship with Chichester District Council's Business Waste & Recycling Service.  I know I can pick up the phone to Keith and his team and they will be there to help and make things easier.  They offer recycling advice and keep us on track with what can be recycled and this visit really helped to bring everything together. It has also really helped to get the whole team's buy in."

Keith: "We were delighted to be able to arrange this trip.  Our focus is not just waste collection.  We want to ensure all our customers get the most out of our service, recycle better and reduce their overall waste production.  Chichester Festival Theatre have championed this approach and are continuously striving to meet their sustainability targets."

"By using our recycling service, our customers can recycle a whole range of items, including glass, all in one bin with no need to separate.  It's an easy, sustainable and cost-effective solution for your business.  Once sorted at the MRF, the materials are then reprocessed into new products."

"Due to the processing facility available to us, we have ensured that Chichester Festival Theatre is already ahead of the new regulations that will soon make it a legal requirement for businesses to separate recyclable materials from their general waste by 31 March 2025." 

"However, we recognise there's more to recycling than just complying with legislation and there are lots of other great business reasons to recycle. Our team are here to help explain the benefits."

Find out more about our recycling services.