By Dave GooderhamHOUSEHOLDERS are set to benefit from one of the biggest recycling drives the county has seen with a quarter of Suffolk's population taking part in the multi-million-pound pioneering scheme.

By Dave Gooderham

HOUSEHOLDERS are set to benefit from one of the biggest recycling drives the county has seen with a quarter of Suffolk's population taking part in the multi-million-pound pioneering scheme.

Officers at St Edmundsbury Borough Council and Forest Heath District Council believe 90% of household rubbish could be recycled with the use of all-new blue bins in the two areas.

The joint initiative, funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), is due to be launched today and St Edmundsbury Borough Council's portfolio holder for the environment described the scheme as the largest the county has seen.

Jeremy Farthing added: “Far too much waste is produced in society and we absolutely welcome any effort made to reduce the impact on the environment.

“This scheme has been in the pipeline for a while, but it was one of the first things the new council decided on after the elections - this illustrates how important it is.

“I regard this as pretty much on top of the council's agenda and it is certainly one of the biggest ever recycling drives across the county.”

About 3,000 households trialled the blue bins last year, along with five other schemes aimed at helping residents recycle more and reduce the amount of waste which goes to landfill.

Forest Heath District Council's recycling officer Rachel Pooley said the blue bins, used in conjunction with the existing brown and black bins, were easily the most successful of the schemes.

“The blue bin scheme stood out as it was best for recycling, cost effective and convenient,” she added.

“About 80% of people who used the scheme were happy with how it worked. We are now planning to introduce a blue bin alongside our existing brown and grey bins.

“We will collect the grey bin one week and then the blue bin. The brown bin, collected on alternative weeks, will stay the same.”

The all-new blue bin will take paper, cans, plastic and cardboard while the brown bin will continue to be for garden and kitchen waste and the black bin for residual waste.

The recycling scheme is set to begin later this month in the St Edmundsbury area and next month in the Forest Heath district.

Ms Pooley said: “The grant from Defra paid for all the capital costs so we didn't have to add to council tax money to pay for the bins.

“I think this will be successful as we are not reducing the service in anyway, we are just adding an extra bin.

“As we are collecting in different weeks, we won't have to buy any more freighters or vehicles, while we hope it will give people a bit more room.”

But the new style bins have not found favour with everyone and Haverhill town councillor Mabon Dane has described them as a “recipe for disaster”.

He warned in March: “A lot of residents in Haverhill are not very happy about this. Elderly and disabled people already have great difficulty with wheelie bins and now they will have to cope with a third.”

dave.gooderham@eadt.co.uk