WORCESTER’S green bin recycling scheme has been hailed a great success.

Householders in the city managed to recycle 36 per cent – 10,712 tonnes – of the overall waste they produced last year making it the country’s leading recycler of dry waste, such as paper, glass and cans.

However, Worcester, with a population of 93,700, lags behind overall because other councils across the country, such as Wychavon District Council, also recycle food and garden waste, known as compost recycling.

The brown wheelie bin scheme was introduced in the city this summer and about 60 tonnes is now being collected for composting on a monthly basis. Also, because Worcester City Council will also be able to accept a much wider range of recyclable goods – from yoghurt pots and margarine tubs to Tetra Paks and cardboard boxes – from January following the opening of the new EnviroSort plant at Norton, that will also boost rates.

Worcester’s recycling was up from 34.03 per cent – 10,363 tonnes – in 2007/8 and figures from Defra (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) revealed the city council collected an average 326kg of waste per household last year which is the ninth lowest volume collected by any local authority in England.

Councillor Roger Knight, deputy leader of Worcester City Council and cleaner and greener portfolio holder, said the success was the result of “great participation” by city residents.

“I’d also like to thank residents for taking great care to place the right items in the recycling bin,” he said. “As a result, our contamination rate is one of the lowest in the country.

“The council have had to take some difficult decisions with regard to waste collection arrangements over the last few years, but the latest results are proving that these decisions were in fact the right decisions.”

Meanwhile, Malvern Hills District Council, with about 74,300 people, recycled 27 per cent – 6,236 tonnes – of dry waste last year but it too will be able to add garden waste figures to next year’s results following its decision to take part in the scheme.

Wychavon District Council, which has a population of about 117,100, managed a 26 per cent recycling rate of dry waste, though that rises to 32.6 per cent – 13,656 tonnes – when food and garden waste is added.

According to the Audit Commission, landfill tax costs councils around £25 per household per year, and charges are set to rise from the current £40 to £48 per tonne from April.

Mike Harrison, head of cleaner and greener at Worcester, said: “Sen-ding less to landfill can therefore only be of benefit to the council taxpayer and the environment.”