RECYCLING could be made easier for the residents of East Cambridgeshire if a bid for �5million of Government funding is successful.

East Cambridgeshire District Council has submitted the bid, which would keep weekly rubbish collections and make it easier to recycle more waste, to Government.

The current brown sack and black box collection system would be replaced with:

• A new wheeled bin recycling collection, including paper, glass, metal cans, plastics, cartons and cardboard. This would be collected fortnightly.

• A new wheeled bin collection for organics to include food and garden waste. This also would be collected fortnightly.

• A fleet of new vehicles for the new services as well as a rescheduling of rounds to reduce carbon emissions.

A public consultation was conducted as part of the bid, which asked the residents what they thought of the new proposals.

More than 95 per cent of those who responded thought the council should do more to increase recycling and more than 76 per cent felt the new system would improve dry recycling collection.

Feedback from residents suggested an increase in those who would compost food waste from 46 per cent to 73 per cent.

Councillor Richard Hobbs, chairman of the council’s community and environment committee, said: “We believe we have a strong case as our proposals are specifically designed to meet the needs of our residents by providing a weekly waste collection with a fortnightly wheeled bin recycling service.”

A Government decision is due any time from the middle of October.

Cllr Hobbs said: “Should the bid be successful there will still be a lot of work to do to deliver this new service but rest assured we would do all we could to introduce the changes as soon as possible.

“Our aim is to be known for an excellent waste and recycling service and this bid is a great chance to deliver for all our residents.”

Should the council get the go-ahead, officers will carry out a survey of all households in the district to identify anyone whose property would not be suitable for the new service.

These homes would retain the current black box and brown sack collection while other households would convert to the wheeled bin service.

The funding for the bid would come from the Department for Communities and Local Government’s ‘Weekly Collection Reward Scheme’ – which is making �250 million available to all authorities.