A BOROUGH today (MONDAY) launched a new recycling service to take items normally headed for the general rubbish bin.

It means householders can send waste such as biscuit wrappers, Pringles tubes, plastic toothbrushes and coffee bags for reprocessing.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has agreed a six month trial with US recycling organisation TerraCycle to salvage items not normally collected kerbside for recovery.

Residents can take the items to the borough's tips rather than put them in their Burgundy general waste bins.

The new items eligible to be recycled are:

• all Pringle tubes - the lids can be recycled kerbside;

• all brands of biscuit, cracker and cake wrappers except chocolate bar wrappers and biscuit trays;

• all brands of flexible coffee packaging but not ground coffee, individual coffee bags and capsules.

• all brands of manual toothbrushes, dental floss containers, electric flosser nozzles, flossing sticks and interdental brushes although toothpaste tubes, battery-operated toothbrushes and dental floss are not accepted.

To use the service householder must collect the relevant product packaging at home, request free recycling labels using the form on RecycleBwD website, stick the label to a plastic bag (preferably a clear one), and drop it off at a Household Waste Recycling Centre.

The different categories of items must be kept separate and not mixed.

The trial is the latest stage in a drive to improve poor recycling rates since 2019 when they were below 40 per cent.

Cllr Jim Smith, Blackburn with Darwen Council’s environment boss, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with TerraCycle and offering our residents the option to recycle even more items.

“Being chosen as a partner for this trial is a fantastic opportunity and we encourage every one of our residents to get involved – it’s really easy to take part.

“Boosting recycling rates, reducing food waste and lowering contamination are key priorities for us over the next year and beyond."

The waste will be recycled by shredding, cleaning and turning into plastic pellets, which can then be used by manufacturers to create new plastic products.Julien Tremblin, general manager for TerraCycle Europe said: “Darwen is the home of TerraCycle’s Materials Recovery Facility, so we already know the area and know how invested many of the residents are in sustainability. This made it an ideal location for this exciting pilot project.”

The borough has two household waste tips at George Street West in Blackburn and Spring Vale Road in Darwen.

In 2021 the council started recycling plastic film with US firm TerraCycle