Worcester recycles just over a third of its rubbish. The city council wants to get that up to half.

Currently the proportion of all waste collected by Worcester City Council that is recycled is 37 per cent. That ‘s better than other urban district councils in the county, Redditch is at 31 per cent, Wyre Forest is at 33 per cent, it’s some distance behind Bromsgrove and Wychavon, who are close to the national average in the mid-40s.

Sue Horrobin, head of operations at Worcester City Council – the body which collects our waste – has ideas how it can be improved.

She said: “We are just measured on the recycling we collect from the kerbside. The two household recycling centres in Worcester are run by the county council, and they recycle a lot, but that goes to the county council’s figures.”

When Sue spoke at Warndon Parish Council recently, it was apparent that many were confused as to what they could, or could not put into their green bins.

Sue said: “If you’re in doubt, then probably leave it out. Lots of people ask about black plastic. Because the sorting machines use reflection of light to work out what something is, black plastic show up.”

Sue wants people to look around the rest of their house for recyclables: “Shampoo bottles, cleaning fluid bottles, including the trigger spay tops, the box a toothpaste tube comes in, perfume bottles, even aerosols can all be recycled.

“Envelopes and cardboard packaging can also be put in the green bin, even with the see-through window.“

Seven do’s and don’ts

Rinse bottles and jars before recycling

Check labels or letswasteless.com before binning something in case it can be recycled

Soiled cardboard like pizza boxes shouldn’t be recycled

Flatten boxes to make card easier to sort (and have more room in your green bin)

Shredded paper can be recycled- just put it in a paper or cardboard container

Don’t put foil in the green bin – take it to the household recycling centres

Both steel and aluminium cans can be recycled in the green bin