WEST Devon has rolled out its popular Green and Clean recycling scheme to a further 2,500 households in the borough during the last week. It now means that almost half the households in West Devon Borough Council?s area ? just over 10,000 homes ?have their garden waste and bulky card collected every fortnight from the kerbside. The extra collections will further boost West Devon?s recycling reputation ? residents already recycle more than a quarter of their waste, making them the top in Devon and among the best in the country. The new areas now included in Green and Clean are Bere Alston, Horrabridge, Buckland, Crapstone, Mary Tavy and Bridestowe. They join Tavistock, Okehampton, Yelverton and Dousland, where the council began piloting the recycling project last October. To date, just over 400 tonnes of card and garden waste have been collected over the last six months ?equivalent to 27 fully laden double decker buses! Andrew Barron, the council?s recycling projects officer, said: ?This is great news all round. ?West Devon?s residents are playing a huge role in diverting waste from landfill, and through our expanding recycling services they are getting better and better as time goes on.? All the new participating households have been issued with two 90-litre bags and an information leaflet giving collection dates for the next six months. In the bag should go thick card, grass cuttings, hedge trimmings, weeds, plants and twigs, branches (up to the thickness of your wrist) vase flowers and thick corrugated card. The card and garden waste is composted together at a site in Plymouth and is sold as West Country Compost via local garden centres. The West Devon Borough Council project is funded by a £300,000 grant from the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and runs in addition to the council?s green recycling box scheme which is collected weekly with household refuse. West Devon?s recycling team will be helping residents with home composting in other areas of the borough where the new scheme is not in place. For further information about the Green and Clean scheme and home composting call the council?s green waste helpline on 01822 813655.
