 Councils now pick up recycled waste from peoples' homes |
Recycling of household waste in England has doubled over the past four years. The London borough of Hillingdon began collecting recycled waste in the 1990s. Weekly collections of most household items began in June, with garden waste picked up from doorsteps fortnightly.
One local resident tells BBC News how this has seen his household's weekly rubbish collection drop by two-thirds.
"It really was the council putting in the effort that made me think how sensible this all was," says John McKenna, 58, a retired teacher from Harefield.
"You can't just keep filling landfills with stuff when there is a use for it."
Hillingdon supplies residents with a roll of plastic bags for dry recyclable waste, each clearly labelled with what they will and will not take away.
Reusable fabric bags are provided for garden waste.
Packaging waste
"Up and down my road there's hardly a house that does not have at least one recycling bag outside every week," says Mr McKenna.
"Before the scheme we used to occasionally take glass bottles to recycling banks but that was it."
 |  If it can be reused but not be collected I will sort the items out myself  |
Into the clear bag for dry recyclable waste go brochures, cardboard, magazines, newspapers, plastic drinks bottles - minus their tops - steel and aluminium cans.
Hillingdon still does not collect glass bottles but that is something Mr McKenna says he is able to do himself if he is passing the local civic amenity site.
Next year, however, the borough will start collecting glass bottles in the same clear sacks that are distributed for current dry recyclable waste.
"My regular black bin bag waste has gone down massively - by two-thirds," Mr McKenna says. "We only put one bag out now and it is never full."
The waste Mr McKenna and his wife now put out for the bin men mainly comprises old food, leftovers, scrap paper and plastic packaging.
"Unfortunately things like yoghurt pots and cellophane are still not collected separately," he says.
"The trouble, I understand, is there is little they can easily do with it."
Time saved
Into the fabric bag goes garden waste that does not make it onto Mr McKenna's compost heap.
"Last week was the first time I had not used the green waste service but next time I will have three full bags," he adds.
"That service has certainly saved me a lot of time going to the dump myself," he adds.
The new awareness has also made Mr McKenna more inclined to recycle other items.
"If it can be reused but not be collected I will sort the items out myself and take it to be recycled," he says.
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