The introduction of the wheeled bin recycling service in East Cambridgeshire has seen the area record the third highest increase in recycling performance of English Councils in the last year.

The statistics from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs show in 2012/13 East Cambridgeshire was ranked 257th out of 320 councils responsible for waste collections with recycling levels of 33.37%.

During 2013/14, when the new service was introduced halfway through the year, East Cambridgeshire shot up to 116th with a recycling rate of 45.48%.

With a recycling rate estimated to be in excess of 54% for 2014/15, the authority could potentially break into the top 50 best recyclers across England next year.

The dramatic change in the recycling performance has come since East Cambridgeshire District Council successfully bid for £5 million from Central Government to fund a new recycling service which retained weekly waste collections.

Cllr Kevin Ellis, who leads on Waste and Recycling at East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “Since the introduction of the wheeled bin service in the autumn of 2013, we have seen our recycling rates increase dramatically. It has been really encouraging to see how the efforts of our residents and the hard work of staff at the District Council have made a real difference. The exciting aspect of this data is it only covers six months of the new service – this means we should see further improvements when the league tables come out next year. I would not be surprised if in 2015 we see East Cambridgeshire continue to climb into the top 50 recyclers in the country – this would be a fitting accolade to reflect the enthusiasm with which the wheelie bin service has received.”

The wheeled bin recycling service involves:

•    A blue lidded wheeled bin recycling collection, including paper, glass, food & drinks cans, plastic bottles & hard plastic food containers, cartons and cardboard. This will be collected fortnightly.
•    A green lidded wheeled bin collection for garden and food waste. This will also be collected fortnightly.
•    Refuse in black sacks continues to be collected weekly

For more information on the waste and recycling service in East Cambridgeshire please call 01353 665555.