By David LennardA NEW scheme to reduce the amount of waste from households being buried in landfill sites has been awarded more than £1.2 million by the Government.

By David Lennard

A NEW scheme to reduce the amount of waste from households being buried in landfill sites has been awarded more than £1.2 million by the Government.

Waveney District Council is introducing a three-bin collection service as part of an initiative to increase recycling and reduce the amount of rubbish being buried in the ground.

Orginally piloted in parts of Lowestoft, the three-bin scheme now also operates in parts of Halesworth, Southwold, Reydon, Beccles, Worlingham, Bungay, Carlton Colville and Kessingland.

Under the scheme, householders divide their rubbish with kitchen waste placed in a black bin, garden waste in a green bin and all recyclable goods including paper, plastic cartons and tin foil in a blue bin.

Collections are then alternated with blue and green bins collected one week and the black bin on the following week.

Following initial concerns from some residents, the scheme is now working well and councillors were delighted that it has been recognised by the Government.

Wendy Mawer, the council's portfolio leader for environment and regeneration, said: “This is absolutely fantastic news.

“The extra money the Government is putting in will enable the scheme to be extended still further so that the whole district can become involved.

“Where it has been introduced the three-bin scheme has proved a success and we are able to recycle in the region of 50% of items being discarded, whereas before the scheme was introduced the figure was between 5% and 10%.”

It is hoped that the scheme will be extended across the Waveney area by May.

Waveney District Council was awarded £1,234,075 from the National Waste Minimisation and Recycling Challenge Fund and is the only local authority in Suffolk to be allocated funding as part of the Government's recycling initiative.

david.lennard@eadt.co.uk