Residents are being praised for their environmental efforts after helping to achieve a new recycling record in North Tyneside.
New figures show that recycling rates reached 43% during the summer - the highest ever recorded in the borough and a 7% increase on the previous year.
The improvement is the direct result of local people taking the opportunity to recycle more of their household waste, after the introduction of alternate weekly bin collections in August 2018.
The figures are also boosted by the seasonal increase in garden waste, after the council expanded the brown bin scheme to include more than 1,000 homes.
Cllr Carl Johnson, Cabinet Member for Transport and the Environment, praised the efforts of householders across North Tyneside.
He said: “I’m incredibly proud of our residents and staff for all the hard work they’ve done to increase recycling in the borough and reduce the waste that gets sent to landfill.
“We knew when we introduced the new collection schedule last year that it would take some getting used to,both for the council and our residents.
“I am pleased to report that our recycling rates are going from strength-to-strength and that is largely down to the backing we have had from local people and the way they have embraced the changes.
“Even as the borough continues to grow by around 600 households a year, residents now produce less waste and take care to separate their recyclables at home, helping us to minimise the environmental impact of waste collections.
“It shows what can be achieved when the local authority and community work together to affect positive change and we will continue to push to achieve an even better rate of recycling in the borough.”
Residents can continue to help by recycling at home using the ‘Wash, Squash and Recycle’ method, which involves rinsing cans and bottles to reduce contamination in bins and keeping paper and cardboard clean so it can be recycled.
The Household Waste Recycling Centre is also open every day to take bigger collections of cardboard, wood, glass and electrical goods to be recycled and reused.
For further information on how to dispose of household items such as beds, cardboard etc please refer to our A-Z of rubbish or What goes in my bins.
