WOMEN are more likely to do recycling than men, according to researchers at Essex University.

A study by Hazel Pettifor at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) found only 58 per cent of single men both recycling, compared to 69 per cent of women.

Couples fare best with 79 per cent of them recycling, and in homes where housework recycling was a shared activity between men and women.

Ms Pettifor’s study Patterns of Household Practice asked more than 2,000 singletons and 3,000 couples about their housework habits and whether or not they separated waste for recycling. It is hoped the study could help councils save money by targeting green messages at single men.