CANTERBURY council insists its new clear bag recycling scheme has proved a resounding success, despite initial criticisms from some residents unhappy at losing their green-lidded bins.

All recyclable items are now taken to a depot at Hersden where they are sorted and baled for collection and re-use.

The city council has stressed that every time residents place household rubbish into one of the clear plastic bags for recycling they are helping to cut down on the waste of the earth’s valuable resources.

And they are also reducing pollution because everything which goes into those bags is used again instead of being dumped in the ground.

Plastic items are used to make drainpipes and water butts, paper is turned into loo rolls, tissues and baby wipes and tin cans into steel or aluminium products. Nothing is wasted.

The council says much more rubbish is being re-used than was possible under the old green-lidded bin system.

Some people in the district were unhappy about losing their bins to clear sacks but councillorsd point out the scheme has enabled all those households who could not use bins to take part in recycling.

Tony Parker, the council’s head of environment and street scene, said: “In fact, the district is currently recycling so much that staff at the facility at Hersden, where the materials are sorted, are having to work extra hours to cope with the demand. Residents have been really enthusiastic and committed.”

*Rumours that clear sacks full of recyclable materials are being sent to a landfill site at Shelford have been scotched by Canterbury council.

Residents contacted the council after hearing that their efforts to recycle were in vain. But cCouncil leader Cllr Alex Perkins said: “These rumours are a load of old tosh."

*An open day is being held at the Hersden site later this year to enable people to see how their rubbish is sorted for re-use.