CHANGES to collections in Hyndburn have seen an increase in recycling of more than 300 tonnes, council bosses said.

From July 2018, Hyndburn Council rolled out a scheme to split recycling between two coloured wheelie bins.

It came after Lancashire County Council ceased all cost share payments to Hyndburn Council and took ownership of all recycled materials collected and their income, which resulted in the reduction of approximately £850,000 from the council’s budget.

The council decided on scrapping recycling bags and boxes in lieu of a move to wheelie bins.

And Cllr Paul Cox said the amount of recycling collected between April and September this year was more than 3,000 tonnes compared with 2,668 over the same period last year.

He added the council was number one in the North West and ninth nationally for lowest amount of waste generated per head of population and it was something the borough should be proud of.

Cllr Cox said: “We are also one of the most effective and cost-efficient authorities in Lancashire at collecting recycling. We are looking at how we can provide plastic recycling for businesses.”

Executive director for environment Steve Riley said: “The figures show all the waste generated in Hyndburn per head of population. It’s what we recycle, everything that goes to landfill and composting - everything together.

“It’s an indicator for waste management and shows people are producing less waste across the borough.”

Figures show the council’s recycling for 2018/19 continues to remain fairly constant at around 33 per cent with government published figures showing Ribble Valley, Blackburn with Darwen, Pendle and Burnley all have lower rates.

Bosses hope to see an improvement in the annual figures from next year, when the figures will show the first full year impact of using wheeled bins.

Mr Riley added: “Making this decision allowed for the standardisation of the waste collection vehicle fleet and because all the vehicles would be compaction vehicles with an additional 2 tonne capacity, the council was able to reduce the number of vehicles from 11 to 10.

“Recycling crew numbers were reduced to driver plus two loaders but remained at driver plus three loaders for domestic refuse, as these crews also collect fly-tipped waste and non-recyclable household bulky collections.

“Wheeled bins would also result in less wind- blown litter, so there could also be a reduction in the number of hand sweepers deployed each day.”