A NEW fleet of collection vehicles have taken to the road this week as part of Stroud District Council’s extended recycling service.

Waste and recycling crews have been out collecting and emptying the wheelie-bins and recycling bags, as well as recycling boxes, into the new trucks with their distinctive look.

Cllr Simon Pickering, executive member for the environment at the council, said: "The new vehicle fleet sports the clear and simple message ‘recycle more, waste less’. A message I hope everyone will take on board.

"Despite having invested in eight new collection vehicles, this won’t cost the council a penny more, because the income from the extra recycling will offset all the implementation costs, including the new vehicles and the wheelie-bins."

Previously when household recycling was collected it was hand-sorted at the kerbside by the crews and placed into different compartments of the vehicle.

The new collection lorries have just two large compartments, one to empty the wheelie-bins or bags which contain plastic, glass and metals; and one for the boxes which contain paper, cardboard and cartons.

Splitting the recycling this way separates the high value items - the card and paper - from the other recyclable items, which are taken to a large sorting facility to be processed.

Stroud District Council has warned that the new service will take longer for the first few weeks and residents should leave their recycling and waste out until it is collected.

For more information about the service visit, www.stroud.gov.uk/recycling