GO-GREEN residents were today thanked by council bosses after making the launch of a new recycling drive a resounding success.

Figures published by Blackburn with Darwen Council today reveal that more than 100 tonnes of rubbish is being recycled every week.

Up until April, all the rubbish would have been dumped in landfill sites at a cost to the council of £14 per tonne.

Then Blackburn with Darwen Council launched a new bin collection scheme aimed at reducing the amount of landfill poured into the ground each year.

The European Union is set to increase landfill tax in a bid to force councils into finding another way of disposing of rubbish.

A total of 12,000 homes received a second wheelie bin - for garden waste - and a crate for so-called 'dry-recycled goods' such as tins.

Rubbish unable to be recycled is now collected one week, and rubbish for recycling the next.

In the first six weeks of the scheme, 750.69 tonnes of recycled waste was processed by council contractors, with green waste such as grass cuttings making up the bulk of the rubbish.

On the week of June 6, for example, 50 tonnes of paper was collected, 18 tonnes of dry-recycled materials and 101.72 tonnes of green waste.

Coun Andy Kay, executive member for regeneration, said: "The amounts of rubbish collected have far exceeded our expectations so far.

"All this sort of rubbish, until this year, would have gone straight into the ground at a cost of £14 per tonne.

"That is set to get even more expensive in the coming years so it is important everyone recycles to try and keep council tax down in years to come."

In total, 21,000 homes will initially get extra bins, primarily those with gardens.

The recycling drive forms part of the council's Thrash The Trash initiative, which aims to improve the state of the borough by encouraging people to be more careful how they dispose of their waste.

Last year, around nine per cent of household waste was recycled, mainly through bottle banks and waste paper collections.

Newspapers and magazines amount for 14 per cent of household waste, compostable materials such as grasscuttings 30 per cent, glass seven per cent and textiles seven per cent.