THOUSANDS of tonnes of waste materials ranging from paper to glass have begun flooding into a new recycling facility in Kidderminster.

Severn Waste Services commissioned the depot, at Hoobrook, as part of a £730,000 scheme.

It opened last week and will store items including cans and textiles, acting as a reception point for the household waste collected by Wyre Forest District Council.

New purpose-designed collection vehicles will take the waste to concrete storage bays at the site, with Severn Waste arranging for the materials to be shipped elsewhere around the country, to be processed for reuse.

The Hoobrook centre will be manned full-time and has a state-of-the-art computerised weighbridge system.

To avert potential litter problems, the waste materials will be stored under cover.

Severn Waste's operations director, John Lashley, said: "We're now handling over 1,300 tonnes of recyclables per month and the quantities are growing as the public have really taken to the recycling habit.

"We have arrangements in place with re-processors all over the UK to receive the material - from Cheshire, Yorkshire and south Wales for the aluminium, glass and steel respectively, to local agents who handle our paper."

The new facility was needed to help the district council cope with household collections due to extend to 41,000 properties.

Kerbside collections were launched in the district last September, with the council using its deport in Green Street as a temporary collection point.