Be part of a green revolution (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)

Be part of a green revolution

A GREEN revolution is taking hold of west Wiltshire and there are hopes recycling targets could be met five years ahead of schedule.

West Wiltshire District Council, in partnership with the Wiltshire County Council, is to extend its twin bin and black box recycling scheme to towns and rural areas not already taking part and hopes to be recycling nearly a third of rubbish by the end of the year.

Cllr Rosemary Brown, the council's environmental services portfolio holder, said: "Thanks to the marvellous support of local people we achieved 15.7 per cent recycling in 2004/5 and our target was to be recycling nearly a third of all rubbish by 2010.

"We cannot keep burying our rubbish in the ground. By providing the most comprehensive recycling schemes that we can we are hopeful local people will continue to support a greener west Wiltshire."

At the moment most homes in Melksham, Bradford on Avon, Trowbridge, Warminster and Westbury have a fortnightly collection of paper, glass, cans, foil and textiles through the black box system.

Homes in Trowbridge and Melksham also have alternate weekly collections of compostable waste in green bins and other waste in grey bins.

Both schemes will now be rolled out to other areas from the autumn and the council will continue to review progress on a regular basis.

Wiltshire County Council is sending out a leaflet and calendar to all householders who have kerbside recycling collections explaining the scheme and how to make the most of it.

Toby Sturgis, cabinet member for environmental planning and waste, said: "There is no doubt that everyone is getting more aware of the need to recycle and to think hard about separating their rubbish

"We hope this leaflet will act as a handy reminder to everyone we are all in this together every time we recycle we divert waste from being buried in the Wiltshire countryside."

The green bin scheme was introduced last year, amid some controversy, to meet tough government recycling targets and the Wiltshire Times launched its own Don't Refuse Reuse campaign to mark its introduction and to help keep recycling in the public eye.

The district council also runs household recycling centres in Lancaster Road, Bowerhill, Canal Road, Trowbridge and Furnax Lane, Warminster.

These handle rubbish including rubble and soil, metals and white goods such as fridges and cookers.