COTSWOLD District Council is hoping a record number of residents will go green this year and contribute to the authority’s leading waste recycling record.

The ninth year of the council’s chargeable garden waste service starts on Wednesday April 1 and is urging existing subscribers to sign up again while hoping that even more householders will follow suit. Everyone participating will help contribute to the council’s recycling/composting rate of almost 60 per cent - the best in Gloucestershire.

Those signing up for the service for 2016-17 will have their garden waste collected weekly provided they have paid a £30 licence fee to use the green garden waste wheeled bins. They will also be able to empty their unwanted food waste into the green bin. Additional licences can be purchased for a further £30.

Alternatively, for those who cannot accommodate a green wheeled bin at their property, 50 compostable brown paper garden waste sacks can also be purchased for £30 (available from the Council’s Trinity Road offices or at the Moreton Area Centre)

Residents who receive Council Tax or Housing Benefit are entitled to a 50 per cent discount on the price of a green waste licence.

Cllr Sue Coakley, Cotswold District Council’s Cabinet Member for the Environment, comments:

"We are very grateful to our residents who recycle. The green waste service is very well supported and it would be great to see even more people signing up for it this year. We have frozen the price at £30 yet again and this represents really good value for money.

“Our garden and food waste, collected through the green bin scheme, is recycled into compost rather than going to landfill.”