Mix your paper and cardboard together for recycling

Instead they can mix them together when putting out paper and cardboard for the fortnightly recycling collection.

This means that they can put their junk mail, newspapers, cereal boxes, cardboard food packaging and other paper and cardboard products either into a cardboard box or their green recycling box.

Councillor James Starkie, Executive Member for Waste, said:

"We're making it easier for Pendle residents to recycle their paper and cardboard.

"By not having to separate the two, it means that people have one less thing to think about and can just put them both into the same container.

"We hope that the change will go some way to driving up our recycling rates, whilst helping us to save money too.

"By changing the vehicles we use to collect paper and cardboard we will save £8,000 per year. Plus there'll be other savings to be made since these vehicles use less fuel.

"This is another example of our mission to cut the costs, not the service."

If residents don't already have a green recycling box, they can put out their paper and cardboard recycling in an old cardboard box - such as a cereal box or a larger cardboard box.

The cardboard boxes will be taken away to be recycled too, and residents can use another one for their next scheduled collection.

But if they don't have a cardboard box, it won't stop them recycling - they can put out their paper and cardboard in a plastic bag.

The recycling collectors will take plastic bags away, and dispose of them separately.

Carole Taylor, the Council's Recycling Co-ordinator, said:

"We're hoping this change to paper and cardboard recycling will increase the borough's recycling rates.

"Currently Pendle residents recycle around 38% of their waste.

" Lancashire has a target of recycling 56% of our waste by 2015.

"It's a tough target but if everyone in Pendle does their bit and uses the household collection schemes, we can do our best to reach it.

"Although our collectors will be putting the paper and cardboard into the same vehicle, if anyone has a system set up at home to separate their paper and cardboard, they can continue to put it out separately for collection if they prefer."

For more information about the new paper and cardboard collections, go to www.pendle.gov.uk/recycling or call the recycling helpline on (01282) 661743.