BURY has won £600,000 for the most radical shake-up of refuse collection seen in the borough.

Residents are being urged to support a huge recycling drive which will transform the way their bins are emptied.

Some 28,000 households, more than a third in the borough, will be chosen to pilot the scheme, which is due to start next autumn.

The plan involves replacing the current weekly refuse collections with two fortnightly collections: one for materials which can be recycled, the other for those which cannot.

The £600,000 is Bury's share of £5 million given to Greater Manchester councils by the Government to set up one of the largest kerbside recycling schemes in the UK. It will help Bury to meet recycling targets and avoid fines by sending less waste to landfill sites.

Councillor Stella Smith, executive member for environment and transport, said that precise details of the scheme would be worked out over the coming months.

"Essentially, though, refuse collection from 28,000 households will consist of a '"green" week and a "residual" week," she said.

"On the green week, Bury will collect garden waste and raw food waste and Greater Manchester Waste Ltd will collect cans, glass, paper and textiles. On the following week's residual collection, our staff will take any materials that cannot be recycled under this scheme.

"This means that the single take-all refuse collection service will be replaced with one that allows around 50 per cent of the waste from 28,000 properties to be recycled."

Homes selected will be provided with a second wheelie bin for garden waste and raw fruit and vegetables, and a blue box for glass, cans and textiles. Recyclable paper will still be collected in the white bags at the same time as the blue box.

The council will make home visits to those affected, offering advice and information. It also plans to hold roadshows and promotional events to publicise the scheme.

The aim is to extend the scheme to cover every household in the borough.

Bosses anticipate that kerbside collections will increase the county's recycling rate by ten per cent, and create 143 jobs.

Bury is also installing 50 mini-recycling sites, and expects to see its recycling rate rise from 5.6 per cent to 23 per cent in the next two years.