THOUSANDS of residents will be able to recycle plastic for the first time when new facilities are rolled out later this year.

At the moment, about 8,000 residents who live in flats more than two-storeys high cannot recycle plastic, but Colchester waste bosses plan to roll out the facility by the end of the summer.

It is in a bid to boost the borough’s recycling rate and cut the amount of Colchester waste going to landfill.

Matthew Young, head of waste services at Colchester Council, said waste teams have been carrying out surveys of about 500 blocks across the borough.

“Most of the flats in Colchester will be given a new container for plastic in the bin area,” he said.

“There are some blocks which our surveys have indicated will not have room for an extra container so we will need to work out another solution for those areas.”

Final research has not been completed and Mr Young was unable to release details of which blocks would have a new container and which would be subject to separate plans.

He also said borough-wide food waste collections will be rolled out at the same time, after a successful two-year trial with 7,100 households.