Residents can now recycle a wider range of materials after improved collections were brought in.

Swale council launched its new service on Monday, December 16.

It means people can now put more materials in the existing blue bins – or sacks if you are in an area which doesn’t have wheelie bins – without the need for the black insert box.

Glass bottles and jars will go straight into the blue bins with other items including all plastic bottles, plastic containers such as ice-cream and butter tubs and yoghurt pots and Tetra-Pack juice cartons.

The items can be recycled along with paper, cardboard, cans, aerosols and foil.

Unwanted textiles can also be put in carrier bags to go out the same week as the blue bins.

The black insert box which was used for glass can be kept and used for any excess items.

On green bin/black sack week, small electrical items can be put out in carrier bags.

Residents are asked to rinse out all items before they are put in the bins.

In April 2014, new weekly food waste collections will be introduced and households will receive two new containers for these – a five-litre silver one which can be kept in the kitchen and a 23-litre outside one which will be collected every week.

• A calendar for collections was printed in the December issue of Inside Swale or to view online visit www.swale.gov.uk/new-collections