MORE than half the households in the Suffolk Coastal area will soon be able to recycle their garden waste with the doubling of a successful green scheme.

MORE than half the households in the Suffolk Coastal area will soon be able to recycle their garden waste with the doubling of a successful green scheme.

In the next few weeks around 19,000 more homes will join the Coastal Ploughback project.

This will mean in total some 30,000 homes across the district will now be able to leave garden waste out for collection every fortnight in special brown wheelie bins funded thanks to a massive government grant.

Chris Slemmings, Suffolk Coastal council cabinet member for the environment said: "This is another major service improvement for our residents and it will also help us meet the district's tough recycling targets.

"It is not the best time of the year to be launching a garden waste service but this is the earliest we could expand it as the go-ahead from the government did not come until July.

"Thanks to the efforts of local people we were achieving recycling rates of 24 per cent after the spring launch of our fortnightly paper collection from every home, and our expanded Coastal Ploughback scheme.

"With this latest boost we are aiming to hit 33-35 per cent by November next year, which will put us ahead of the government's targets."

Two more special refuse lorries have been bought by the council, as well as the wheelie bins.

Leaflets are also being delivered to all the new brown bin homes explaining what items can be collected – including grass cuttings, weeds, bedding plants, light shrub cuttings, dead flowers, leaves and straw.

No kitchen waste, whether cooked or uncooked, should be put in the brown bin. The expansion of Coastal Ploughback has been made possible because of Suffolk Coastal's successful £690,000 bid for funds for recycling initiatives from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Around one-third of the rubbish collected in black sacks every week could be composted, and the council is committed to making it easier for everyone to get into the recycling habit. Special discount deals have seen over 6,000 compost bins sold in the district to help people set up their own compost heaps.

WEBLINK: www.suffolkcoastal.gov.uk/envhealth/recycleinfo.html