More than £700,000 is set to be spent on giving the people of Dartford smaller bins.

Dartford council has been offered a government grant of more than £1.7milllion and part of that cash will go on replacing the existing 240 litre bins with smaller 180 litre ones.

The scheme is designed to encourage people to recycle more and compost garden waste, rather than filling up their general rubbish bins.

Cllr Jeremy Kite (Con), leader of Dartford council, told a cabinet meeting: “I don’t see this as the council forcing residents to recycle; I believe that the people of Dartford are already doing it and the council is fulfilling a need.”

Residents are being asked for their views before the project is finalised, but councillors are expecting most people to welcome the idea.

The council was offered the grant in November 2012 to improve the borough’s recycling rates.

Figures released by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs showed that Dartford was way below the national average of 43%, at just 26%.

The council is expecting recycling to increase to 32% by replacing the general rubbish bins.

The bulk of the money, more than £900,000, will ensure weekly collections continue until 2015.

To receive the grant from the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Weekly Collection Support Scheme, the council also had to guarantee it would keep weekly refuse collections in the borough until at least 2017. Currently, recycling is collected once a fortnight.

Cllr Kite said: “We feel that weekly bin collections are a basic right and will work to preserve that in Dartford, while other councils go to fortnightly collections.”

The remaining money, more than £183,000, will be spent on employing a recycling promotions officer for two years and paying to promote the scheme.

The new bins are expected to be delivered, and the old ones removed, between May and August – but not before the public has had their say.

For more information – and to cast your vote – visit www.dartford.gov.uk/bigbinvote. Completed surveys must be submitted by noon on Thursday.