Rutland County Council is encouraging residents to avoid littering, take care when recycling and to recycle more of the right items in their grey bins over the summer holidays.

The council collects household waste and recycling from homes across the county, as well as operating two large recycling centres near Morcott and Cottesmore, which are free to use.

During 2018, Rutland produced more than 3,700 tonnes of kerbside recycling. Just over ten per cent of this was cardboard (389 tonnes) and around five per cent was plastic (204 tonnes).

The amount of waste we produce increases sharply over holidays like Easter, summer and Christmas so the Council is asking residents to take extra care and make sure that only recyclable materials are placed into grey bins.

Councillor Gordon Brown, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services at Rutland County Council, said: "Summer is great for BBQs, picnics and family days but we often see a sharp increase in the amount of household waste and recycling, particularly with children home from school and people visiting the county on holiday.

"If you're enjoying a trip out, please don't leave any rubbish or litter behind and always try to recycle what you can – especially plastic.

"If you're clearing up at home, every little helps. Always check to see what items can be recycled and make sure your recycling is clean, dry and loose when it goes in your grey bin."

Following just a few simple tips can help improve the quality of Rutland's recycling and protect the environment:

· All plastic packaging for fruit, drinks and BBQ food can go in your grey recycling bin, unless it's black plastic

· Cardboard boxes, packaging and paper can also be recycled in your grey bin

· Tin foil and foil trays can be recycled as long as they're clean and dry before you put them in your grey bin

· Cut down on the amount of food waste that goes into your black bin by composting at home – it's great for your garden!

· Nappies can't be recycled and need to be thrown away in your black household

waste bin

All recycling needs to be placed loose into your grey bin – don't tie it up in bags as this makes it harder to process once collected

Rutland County Council has lots of useful information on its website to help you recycle and reduce waste. This includes a full A-Z explaining the best way to recycle any unwanted items.

You can also register your vehicle for free to use either of Rutland's recycling centres, which are open from 10am until 6pm on selected days. For more information, go online to: www.rutland.gov.uk/recycling.

None of Rutland's household waste goes direct to landfill.

Everything placed into black bins is sent to a special facility in Nottingham where it is used to generate electricity.

Once this process is complete, a small amount of what remains following the energy recovery process is sent to landfill. This represents less than three per cent of Rutland's total waste.