Southend-on-Sea City Council has awarded SUEZ recycling and recovery UK an initial eight-year contract to provide recycling, waste, and street cleansing services.

 

Starting from 05 April 2025, SUEZ will manage recycling and waste collections for the 85,000 households across the city, alongside the two household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) and street cleansing.

Part of the global SUEZ group, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK employs over 6,500 people, operating across hundreds of sites, and handles approximately 11 million tonnes of waste materials every year – a significant proportion of the UK’s total waste. Through collection, treatment, recycling and logistics operations, it serves more than 30,000 business customers and millions of householders throughout the country.

In your community

Volunteering opportunities

The Southend-on-Sea Community Liaison Group provides a platform for residents and community groups to share news, ideas, and feedback about the services SUEZ operates across the city.

 

Comprising local residents and organisations, the group meets four times a year, offering a valuable opportunity to contribute to the ongoing improvement of Southend’s waste and recycling services.

 

We are currently finalizing the date for the next meeting and will update this page once it is confirmed. Members will also be notified directly.

 

We welcome new members and would love to hear your thoughts! If you're a local resident or represent a community group and would like to get involved, please get in touch through the form below.

The Street Champions network is an initiative that encourages local residents in Southend-on-Sea to care for their neighbourhood by volunteering time to collect litter from their local street, green space, beach or other communal land.

 

Street Champions improve an area by looking after the environment and encouraging neighbours and friends to be more concerned about litter. So why not help make Southend a better place for all?

 

What does being a Street Champion involve?

There is no formal commitment in becoming a Street Champion volunteer: you can give as much or as little time as you like, either in a group or on your own. It could be 15 minutes when walking the dog or on your way to work, a Saturday morning once a month with some friends or any time you get the urge to make a difference in your community.

 

What are the benefits of becoming a Street Champion?

  • Satisfaction at seeing your area clear of litter
  • Taking part in positive actions to improve your local environment
  • Being linked to a community of like-minded and environmentally-conscious people
  • Helping to encourage responsible behaviour around litter
  • Helping to prevent plastics entering the wider environment and potentially polluting our sea

 

What will I get?

You will be provided with a welcome kit plus any additional equipment you might need to carry out your role. Our team will also give you training and support.

 

Interested?

If you are interested in becoming a Street Champion, please please get in touch through the form below.

Please note, there is sometimes a waiting list for the scheme but new stock of kits are ordered regularly.

As a recycling champion, you will advise the community about recycling, engage with residents, promote recycling and waste reduction schemes.

 

Why not help make Southend a better place for all?

Recycling Champions work within your local community to promote recycling schemes, raise awareness about the importance of recycling and provide advice to residents about how easy recycling really is in Southend-on-Sea. Recycling will become easier as most residents will switch from a sack collection to an enhanced recycling wheelie bin collection.

 

There are many things that you could do to help get local people recycling such as:

  • Encouraging residents to sign up for the resident app when it becomes available. It will also have the Alexa function so residents can ask what they can recycle in Southend. We know it can be confusing sometimes.
  • Help your neighbours to understand ‘what goes where’ in their recycling and provide them with recycling sacks or food waste liners when they have run out.
  • Hold events at community halls or schools and attend community events with our team.
  • Help to monitor how well people are recycling in your road/street
  • Support residents with information about wheelie bins as we move towards the new service in October 2025.

 

What will I get

  • Training about the importance of recycling and the transition towards the move towards wheelie bins for most residents.
  • Training on how you could hold events and information and materials to support your activities
  • The ability to contact the Recycling Team to discuss recycling and to get advice
  • A welcome kit
  • A quarterly newsletter with ideas and news
  • Social events where you can meet other Recycling Champions
  • A chance to help build a sustainable Southend-on-Sea
  • Visits to recycling facilities to learn more about recycling
  • Valuable knowledge and skills

 

Interested?

If you are interested in becoming a Recycling Champion, please get in touch through the form below.

Community and environmental improvement projects

Recognising the important role the community of Southend has in meeting recycling targets To deliver our aim of increased recycling rates and maintaining an attractive street scene in Southend-on-Sea, SUEZ recognises the important role that the community has. We will work with the community to achieve these. If you would like to know how SUEZ could work with your community, please contact us. There are a number of different groups working for the good of the City.

 

  • Make Southend Sparkle - Make Southend Sparkle is about taking pride and positive action to improve your local area. Volunteer your time to make positive changes where you live.
  • Prittle Brook Community - The Prittle Brook Community Group collects litter along the pathway that follows the Prittle Brook.
  • Southend BeachCare - Southend BeachCare Group encourages local communities to take pride in their environment organising beach cleans at locations along the Estuary, from Shoebury East Beach to Two Tree Island.
  • Thames 21 - Whether it’s the Thames or one of its many tributaries, we offer inspiring ways for communities to get down to their local riverbank. Our aim is to rebuild the relationship between communities and their rivers.
  • Southend in transition - Where you can learn how to grow food, look after your garden, take fresh produce home, meet new people over a shared meal and exchange ideas on how to help the community thrive.
  • Trust Links - Trust Links is a local mental health and wellbeing charity committed to supporting people experiencing mental health problems, building stronger communities and promoting sustainable living.
  • St Laurence and Eastwood Action Group - Community Litter Picking mainly Saturday mornings 10.30am-12.30pm around the area. Equipment will be provided.


Education activities

We are dedicated to keeping the community informed and engaged on all things recycling and waste!

 

In the coming months, we will be hosting events to introduce the new enhanced recycling scheme launching on 27 October 2025. Key changes include the transition to alternate weekly collections and the rollout of wheelie bins for most households.

 

Once our event schedule is finalized, we will update this page with full details.

News from Southend-on-Sea

Get in touch

If something’s gone wrong, please let us know so we can fix it. If something we’ve done has impressed you, please tell us so we can congratulate the relevant people. If you have any questions, we’d be happy to answer them – we’d also be delighted to consider any comments or suggestions you may have.

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