City announces recycling record

Local authorities are being encouraged to increase recycling

More waste is being recycled in a Cambridgeshire city than ever before.

The proportion of waste being recycled or composted through the Peterborough's three-bin system was over 46% for the year 2007/2008, the city council found.

"This is an excellent performance," said Graham Murphy, council cabinet member for the environment.

Peterborough City Council aims to have 65% of all residents' rubbish recycled, one of the highest such targets in the country.

Mr Murphy continued: "We began accepting glass bottles and jars in March, so we are confident that the recycling performance will rise again this year."

The city council collects around 100,000 tonnes of discarded household materials each year.

Residents use designated green bins for dry recyclable goods such as paper, cardboard, cans made from glass, aluminium and steel and plastic bottles.

Organic garden materials are placed in brown bins and represent almost 26 per cent of all waste in the city.