Colchester has exceeded all expectations with over half of all the borough’s waste being recycled, the council has revealed.

Following an overhaul of rubbish collection by Colchester Borough Council last July, the rate of recycling has overtaken that of waste ending up in landfill, which has fallen to 33%.

When introduced, the changes were met with controversy. Collections were reduced to just three black bags of waste per fortnight, and proved unpopular, even being raised in the House of Commons by MP Will Quince, who labelled the new method as “totally unacceptable”.

However, new figures from the council suggest this change is having a real effect, with the recycling rate rising by 11% in less than a year.

“Since the introduction of the new system in June 2017, we have seen a dramatic increase in our recycling rates,” said councillor Jessica Scott-Boutell. “These fantastic results speak for themselves”.