Your rubbish could soon be earning Medway Council thousands of pounds in extra revenue.

The price of recyclable plastic, paper, and cardboard has doubled in 18 months giving the council extra funds for improving local services.

Many councils across the country are locked into 20 or 30 year contracts with waste disposal and recycling companies and are unable to cash in on the extra revenue.

But Medway Council is coming to the end of a seven year contract and will soon be renegotiating terms for next year.

Russell Davies, head of waste services, said: “Our seven-year contract is now six years old and will terminate next year. We predicted the rise in the price of steel, eg scrap vehicles.

"But as we’re preparing the new contracts now, we are building in options to review price of recycled materials.”

Medway Council’s fortunes are a contrast to those of Kent County Council which has missed out on making almost £1 million in recycling revenue this year because it is locked into a 25 year contract.

The council is less than half way into the deal and is trying to renegotiate with the contractor in light of the possible revenue increase.

The rising cost of oil, needed to make plastic, is one reason why domestic rubbish is becoming such a valuable commodity.

The sale price of plastic bottles alone has nearly tripled to £230 a tonne in the past six months.

Paper and cardboard has also increased dramatically in price.

A tonne of recyclable paper is now worth £100, double what it was fetching early last year.