Residents in Wokingham Borough are recycling more waste than ever, but there’s still room for improvement as we prepare to change kerbside collections this summer.

Our recycling rate is now 57 percent, meaning well under half (43 per cent) of domestic waste is burned for energy or sent to landfill. Last year’s rate was 54 percent, while in 2016 it was 34 per cent.

The total weight of rubbish is also dropping despite the population increasing.

We still can recycle more, a recent look at blue bags collected from households across the borough found that 57 percent of the contents could have been recycled, with food waste being the biggest culprit.

Most properties will soon be getting a 180-litre black wheeled rubbish bin to replace the current blue bag system.

Non-recyclable rubbish will be collected from the bins every two weeks and recycling will be collected fortnightly, on the other weeks, from the existing green bags.

The 180-litre wheeled rubbish bin, which holds the equivalent of about two full blue bags, should be enough for most households if residents recycle all they possibly can.

As well as using green recycling bags, this means using a free food waste bin – which will still be emptied every week – and taking glass and textiles to recycling banks.