Return of cardboard recycling proves popular in Shrewsbury
Council bosses say they are delighted with the response received by a new-look recycling scheme.
After several years of not being able to collect cardboard, Shropshire Council relaunched its waste collection service, run by Veolia, in October.
Earlier this year changes were also made allowing people in Shrewsbury to add food waste to their garden waste bins.
In the first month under the new system, an extra 99 tonnes of recycling was collected in Shrewsbury.
The scheme has now been rolled out in south Shropshire and will be introduced in Oswestry and Bridgnorth in the new year.
Paul Beard, waste contracts manager at Shropshire Council, said: "The response from the public has been excellent. It has been something we have talked about for a while and the response is as we expected.
"Shrewsbury and north Shropshire are on the go and there is no reason to believe that south Shropshire won't be as successful.
"Anecdotal evidence from our crews is that collection rounds are getting that bit longer because of the take-up.
"What we have had as a result is a 20 per cent increase in all dry recycling collections.
"We think people have been reminded about the recycling message in general. Simplifying it so all metals can go in one box has helped."
Mr Beard said that although he expects the amount of extra recycling collected to drop off, he believes the council will continue to collect more recycling from households due to the new simple method.
"Any new service will see lots of people take part then it will calm down a bit. Lots more stuff has been recycled as a result.
"I don't expect that level to continue, but it will still be a significant improvement and that was the intention of the service."
Mr Beard said collection rounds for some will change over the festive period and urged people to check collection calendars to ensure their recycling is still collected.
"At Christmas and on bank holidays we have to change our collection rounds. We would like to encourage people to look at their calendar specifically for the new dates.
"There will be a Christmas reminder going under every bin lid to ensure people look out for the different collection days.
"Christmas generates more waste that is recyclable and we would encourage people to think about what they put in their residual bins," said Mr Beard.
