KNUTSFORD’S silver bins have been hailed as a success after the borough authority was rated as one of the top council’s in the north west for recycling.

Cheshire East Council has been named as one of the best-performing boroughs in the north west when it comes to recycling – with more than half of all household waste collected now being either recycled, reused or composted.

The latest figures, which cover 2011-2012, show that 52.9 per cent of household waste was recycled – up from 49 per cent the previous year.

The figures are largely down to the introduction of the ‘all-in-one’ silver bin system that was rolled out across Cheshire East in 2011.

In 2011, the landfill tax cost Cheshire East taxpayers £3.5m this year – with the council warning that that figure would increase unless recycling methods were improved.

The new system was brought in a bid to simplify recycling for residents by asking them to place all recyclables in one bin. This is collected fortnightly, with residual household waste collections the alternate week.

Cheshire East is now the second best-performing authority in the region for recycling and it comes in the top 50 nationally.

Clr David Topping, cabinet member in charge of the environment, said: “These figures are excellent news and I would like to thank residents for working with us to make Cheshire East a cleaner and greener place to live.

“We will not be resting on our laurels and will continue our efforts to reduce the amount of waste we send to landfill and improve our recycling rate further.”

For more information on exactly what can be recycled at cheshireeast.gov.uk/recycling l What do you think about the silver bins?

Email us at: knutsford@guardiangrp.co.uk