Recycling scheme given go ahead

Householders will be given two colour-coded plastic containers

A kerbside recycling scheme has been approved for 16,000 homes on the Isle of Man.

The scheme was given the go ahead by the government which approved spending £750,000 to get the project started.

Homes in Douglas, Onchan and Braddan will be given two colour-coded plastic containers to separate out paper, steel, aluminium, glass and plastics.

Environment Minister John Shimmin said he was "delighted" at the move which was "a vital first step" in recycling.

He said recycling would help stop the Energy from Waste (EFW) plant in Braddan from reaching capacity.

'Significant action'

"We've built an EFW facillity and that has made us lazy, it has been easy for everybody to put their waste into a bin which has then gone into the mass burn," he said.

"With that mentality and attitude, within the next three or four years it will reach capacity.

"That doesn't mean it is the wrong size, it means we have been failing to do the recycling and diversion of wastes away from it."

He added: "The EFW was scaled at the right size, but unless we take significant action then it will reach capacity.

"The government can't allow that to happen, so this is one of the interventions which we're putting in place."