EVEN more people will be able to get into the recycling habit in the Suffolk Coastal area – thanks to a massive grant for new wheelie bins.Since the district expanded its collection of green rubbish many people have started recycling garden and food waste for the first time.

EVEN more people will be able to get into the recycling habit in the Suffolk Coastal area – thanks to a massive grant for new wheelie bins.

Since the district expanded its collection of green rubbish many people have started recycling garden and food waste for the first time.

The recent delivery of special crates to every home has also seen waste paper collections double.

Now the green waste project – called Coastal Ploughback – is set to be doubled in size thanks to £324,000 grant from Suffolk County Council .

"This month we were able to expand our Coastal Ploughback scheme from 3,000 homes to nearly 11,000, but with this new funding we should be able to double that later this year," said Deborah Robinson, director of environmental services.

"Now we have got the funding we will draw up detailed plans that will maximise the benefit for the district.

"It should mean that we will be able to buy a further special refuse freighter and provide brown wheelie bins for the homes that will gain this extra service.

"This council and our residents are committed to recycling and we are trying to make it as easy as possible for them all to get into the recycling habit.

"From this month nearly every home can have their waste paper collected every fortnight, we have expanded Coastal Ploughback, and there will soon be over 200 different recycling sites across the whole of the district."

Coastal Ploughback currently serves homes in Kesgrave, Leiston, the Trimleys, Rushmere and Felixstowe, with every participating home having a brown wheelie bin emptied every fortnight to store grass cuttings, weeds, light shrub cuttings, dead flowers, leaves and straw.

"In the first three weeks of our expanded Coastal Ploughback we collected nearly 110 tonnes of green waste and I would thank everyone who has been using their brown bin," added Mrs Robinson.

Around 30 per cent of the rubbish collected in black sacks every week could be composted.

The first four weeks of the new green crate paper collections have seen 217 tonnes of paper collected, saving on landfill space and twice that collected in the same weeks last year.

The council is aiming to reycle 36pc of all household waste by 2006.

"Our teams are now collecting an average of over four kilogrammes of paper from every home, which is 75pc more than last year," added Mrs Robinson.

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

factfile:

Brown wheelie bins are used to store:

n Grass cuttings

n Weeds

n Shrub cuttings less than one inch in diameter

n Dead flowers

n Leaves

n Straw.