From 4 September, Anglo Doorstep Collections takes over Horsham's free doorstep reuse service and coffee pod collections end. What to put out, and what to do with pods.
Horsham District Council is changing who collects textiles, small electricals and coffee pods from residents’ doorsteps. From 4 September 2026 the free service passes to Anglo Doorstep Collections, a national reuse collection organisation, and the separate coffee pod collection stops, because the scheme that paid for it has pulled its funding. (Horsham District Council, 12 August 2026)
The headline for most households is that the doorstep service gets wider, not narrower. Anglo collects clothing, shoes, books, toys, small electricals, kitchenware, tools, linen and bric-a-brac, a longer list than the textiles-and-electricals service it replaces, and it stays free. The council says the switch also saves it money and resources.
What changes on 4 September
Three things are worth separating out, because they are handled by three different routes after the change.
Reusable items go to Anglo. The council describes it as one of the UK’s largest reuse collection networks, and says every collection it makes is donated to a selection of UK charities, with some £460,000 donated since 2021. It also notes that Horsham District was already Anglo’s biggest market in West Sussex before any partnership with the council existed, which suggests a fair number of households here have used it independently already.
Broken small electricals stay with the council. Anything that cannot be reused is still collected by Horsham District Council itself, with bookings made through the textiles and electricals recycling collection page as normal. That is the part most likely to trip people up: the reuse route and the disposal route now have different operators, and it is the condition of the item that decides which one you want.
Coffee pods lose their doorstep collection altogether. The existing service was funded by Podback, the nationwide coffee pod recycling scheme, and Podback has decided to end that funding as part of a national review of its service. The council says it has been looking at alternative ways to develop a new coffee pod service.
Podback has contacted its own customers directly about where to take pods instead. The options the council lists are West Sussex County Council’s recycling centres, including Horsham and Billingshurst, and some local supermarkets; Nespresso customers can also use a Royal Mail returns service. Podback is due to add more local collection points across the Horsham district before the end of the year.
What the council says
Councillor David Skipp, Horsham District Council’s Cabinet Member for Environmental Health, Recycling and Waste, said: “We are incredibly proud of our residents and the role they play in helping us achieve one of the highest recycling rates in the county. Their ongoing commitment makes a real difference.
“We are always looking for ways to build on this success by improving our recycling services and making them as simple and convenient as possible. These latest changes will allow us to continue delivering high-quality recycling collections whilst using public resources more efficiently and supporting our wider environmental goals.”
This is the second change to the district’s collections this year. The council opened a refurbished maintenance depot on 29 July to service the enlarged fleet brought in for the district-wide food waste rounds. (Horsham District Council, 29 July 2026)
What it means for you
If you have a bag of clothes or a working toaster set aside, nothing you need to do changes: it still goes out at the door, still free, and from September the same bag can also take books, toys, kitchenware, tools and bric-a-brac.
If you use the doorstep service for coffee pods, stop putting them out from 4 September and check the email Podback has sent you. Until Podback’s extra local points open, the reliable options are the Horsham and Billingshurst household waste sites, and a Royal Mail return if you are a Nespresso customer. Pods do not belong in the kerbside recycling bin.
If the item is broken, book it with the council rather than leaving it out for Anglo, using the council’s textiles and electricals booking page.
Your ordinary rubbish, recycling and food waste rounds are not affected by any of this. Collection days for your street, and what goes in which bin, are on our Horsham bin collection days page.
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