Ealing Recycling Rates Rocket

Nearly 40,000 tonnes of waste has been saved from landfill after the Council's £3 million pound recycling project was launched last year.

Recycling rates have increased consistently with more than 30 per cent of products being re-used or converted into electricity or fertilizer.

Since November 19 last year with the introduction of the mixed plastics collections, the equivalent of 29 million bottles have been recycled.

Garden waste collection has also doubled and more than 40 tonnes of autumn leaves have been turned into compost.

The council is proud of the borough's recycling success and said tax payer's would benefit in the long run as the cost of landfill tax is set to rise from £32 a tonne to £50 a tonne by 2010-11.

Councillor Sue Emment, Cabinet member for Environment and Street Services, said: "It's brilliant to see that residents have really taken on board all the changes that we have made to improve the service.

"Recycling rates have never been so good and we should all be proud of what we have achieved.

"We've always believed that if you make it easy for people then they will recycle.

"The huge improvement in recycling rates over the last year proves that's true and I hope the borough's recycling rates will continue to go from strength to strength.

"Of course when any new service is rolled out there will always be some issues that need to be worked through and we would like to thank residents for being patient while we've dealt with these."

For more information about recycling visit www.ealing.gov.uk/recycling