RECYCLING across the borough is already on the up as residents prepare for a shift to fortnightly waste collections, council leaders say.

Today marks the first day of the new system which will see some parts of the borough handed wheelie bins for the first time and others limited three black sacks.

Food waste will still be collected weekly with other recyclables, such as paper, plastic cans and glass, will be collected fortnightly.

The plans, brought forward by previous waste boss Dominic Graham, and now headed up by fellow Lib Dem Jessica Scott-Boutell, are in a bid to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill and, therefore, increase the amount of household waste which is being recycled.

Paul Smith, Colchester Council leader, said: “We know there will be teething problems, we absolutely expect that. But actually what we are seeing anecdotally is that people are already recycling more as they prepare for the changes.

“I think people, just knowing what is coming, are starting to change the way they do things.

“Whether that is thinking: ‘You know what, this item can actually be recycled,’ or people changing their shopping habits so there is less packaging, something is happening.

“And we’re seeing this even before the changes are actually implemented, which is quite reassuring.”

Although the council has had to fork out tens of thousands of pounds in order to adapt bin lorries in preparation for the change, as well as to map out new collection routes, Mr Smith pointed to a £100,000 saving by no longer giving residents free black sacks.

He added: “There are one-off costs but we would hope the savings which we will make will certainly make the scheme at least cost neutral in the long -term.

“That will, of course, take time but if we see recycling moving up, it will show the change is not purely financial.

“In fact, as recycling goes up and the amount of waste going to landfill will naturally decrease and there is a saving to the taxpayer there because we will all be paying less in landfill tax.”

Mr Smith also responded to criticism over the creation of two waste systems in the borough.

Critics have voiced concerns over the changes, warning it would lead to confusion.

But Mr Smith said: “We did think about it but it became very clear, very quickly there were going to be areas of the borough where wheelie bins just would not work such as the Dutch Quarter and New Town.

“So once we took the decision on the way we were going to go, there were always going to be areas which would have a different collection so there was no getting away from it.”

By now, every resident will have received a new personalised waste collection calendar, which states their new waste collection date and whether it is a blue or green recycling week.

For more information or to apply for an exemption to allow for extra black sacks to be collection, go to beta.colchester.gov.uk.