William the Composter has been announced as the public’s favourite name for the new vehicles collecting the food waste in Wealden, Hastings and Rother.
The name was submitted by pupils at Pevensey and Westham Primary School who will be getting a visit from Biffa and the winning named food waste truck.
Food waste collections will start in spring this year and, as part of the initiative, a competition for local schools to name the new trucks was launched by Rother District Council, Hastings Borough Council and Wealden District Council.
An educational pack was given to local schools to encourage fun and creative learning about food waste, and they were asked to submit their ideas for names for the 20 new food waste fleet vehicles.
The response was excellent and 20 names were picked by the East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership which will be printed on the new food waste vehicles. These names include SpongeBob Scrapants, Sir-eats-a lot, The Very Hungry Caddy-Filler, and Peels on Wheels.
Following the announcement of the names, a public vote was launched to choose the favourite truck name from those shortlisted.
Cllr Hazel Timpe, portfolio holder for neighbourhood services, tourism and waste at Rother District Council, said: “I would like to congratulate Pevensey and Westham Primary on their win! And a big thank you to everyone who took part in the food waste truck naming competition – especially all the schools from across Rother. The children have had a lot of fun coming up with names for the vehicles and at the same time learnt more about the importance of food waste recycling.”
Cllr Jo Walker, lead for environment and neighbourhood wellbeing at Hastings Borough Council and chair of the East Sussex Joint Waste Partnership, said, “It was great to see such enthusiasm from our community to have their say on the name for these new food waste trucks. Congratulations to Pevensey and Westham Primary School for their excellent choice of name, William the Composter.
“I hope this has been a good way to get the message about the introduction of food waste collections out across all ages and I look forward to seeing the new trucks with their names on across the county.”
Cllr James Partridge, Alliance for Wealden (Liberal Democrat) lead councillor for governance, waste & local economy and leader of the council, said, “What a fantastic response – over 1,000 entries to find the public’s favourite name, with the British sense of humour much in evidence. Congratulations to Pevensey and Westham Primary School. This competition has also been a great way for all ages to understand more about the food waste, why it’s being introduced, where the food waste goes and what it is used for.”
Trevor Elliott, Biffa’s contracts manager, said, “We’re really pleased to be part of this initiative and to see so much creativity from schools across Wealden, Hastings and Rother. The competition has been a great way to get young people and families talking about food waste and recycling.
“Working with the East Sussex Waste Partnership and our council partners, we’re proud to support activities that help households recycle more and waste less. We’re looking forward to bringing William the Composter to Pevensey and Westham Primary School to celebrate their winning idea.”
An information and FAQ webpage for residents can be found at https://www.wealden.gov.uk/recycling-and-waste/how-does-your-service-work/food-waste/food-waste-faqs/
All uneaten food and plate scrapings can go into the bins and will be collected by Biffa, the council’s waste management service each week. Roughly 30 per cent of the caddies and outside bins have been distributed to homes across the district and boroughs already.
All households will get one caddy for inside the home to empty your food scraps into, and a larger outdoor bin for emptying into once the caddy is full – this is what will be collected on a weekly basis.
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Published: 6th February 2026
