Thousands get bins in next recycling scheme phase

Distinctive blue bins have now been rolled out to 3,800 Royal Borough households in the next stage of a pilot recycling scheme.

Paper, plastic and glass can all be thrown on the bins, which are part of the revolutionary council initiative. Launched in June with American company RecycleBank the scheme is the first in the country to offer rewards for recycling.

Currently the majority of residents have to separate their rubbish into different colour-coded boxes or take it to recycling points themselves.

The idea has already had a successful three month trial, during which members of the council's existing green waste scheme were rewarded for recycling compostable materials. In total 1,466 households activated their RecycleBank accounts and have redeemed £2,000 of rewards between them.

The new collections are due to start on September 7 and will be carried out by existing rubbish contractors Veolia Environmental Services.
The trial will run for three months and if successful it will cost £1.25 million to roll the scheme out borough wide.

Cllr Liam Maxwell, cabinet member for sustainability, said: "By giving rewards we are encouraging more people to recycle and therefore reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill."

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