HOUSEHOLDERS in West Devon have taken to recycling in such a big way, the borough has now gained top honours in the county, according to new figures recently released by the government watchdog The Audit Commission.
West Devon Borough Council, which launched a green box weekly kerbside collection scheme two years ago, now has the highest combined recycling and composting rate in Devon ? and not only is the borough doing well regionally.
The council is now the 14th highest recycling authority out of the 238 districts in England, according to the latest annually audited figures.
Chairman of West Devon?s environment committee, Cllr Paul Ridgers, said: ?This is fabulous news ? but thanks must really go to the residents of West Devon for their input into recycling and the green box scheme.
?The council has put a very good scheme in place and the public have risen to the challenge and really done their bit for the environment.?
Cllr Ridgers said the borough was aiming for 60% of household rubbish to be recycled, so there was still room for improvement, but the new figures were still ?fantastic?.
?It?s really good that the message is getting out about the need to recycle,? he said.
And January 2004 marks another first for the borough ? last Saturday, the council organised the first-ever kerbside collection of Christmas trees in Okehampton and Tavistock ? a sizeable operation carried out by contractors Focsa.
West Devon?s recycling officer Jane Savage said nearly three tonnes of trees were picked up from Tavistock and around three quarters of a tonne from Okehampton ? that?s the equivalent of nearly 2,000 trees. They will be recycled to create compost.
Mrs Savage said: ?I wasn?t expecting more than three tonnes altogether, so I?m very pleased indeed.
?The collection was a big success, we?re delighted with it. We?ll definitely be doing it again next year and we hope we will be able to extend the service to include more areas.?