The building blocks are made of glass from bottle banks

The centre has won the Edmund Hambly medal for sustainable construction.

The centre at Okehampton is constructed out of building blocks made from crushed glass along with recycled crushed rock.

The cladding and fencing is made from bin liners and the bollards and benches from recycled plastic.

Warwick Contractors also ensured the materials used in the constructions were local wherever possible and managed the build to minimise pollution.

Their methods saved nearly 3,000 tonnes of virgin stone and 600 tonnes of top soil without significant increases in cost .

Devon County Council says the site is proving popular with local householders who now have a user-friendly place to take bulky household rubbish for recycling .