Ref. 71913-64SWINDON Council is urging people to recycle their rubbish.

A new household waste recycling centre at Waterside Park, in Cheney Manor Industrial Estate, opened last month and it is hoped that more residents will use the facility.

Andy Cook, recycling officer at Swindon Council, said: "The new centre is twice as big so it gives us twice as much scope to provide recycling of different materials.

"At the previous site at Barnfield there was a big problem with waiting times.

"People used to have to wait for up to an hour as the site wasn't big enough for Swindon."

As the site is so new there is no information available on whether recycling has increased.

He said: "Data takes a while to compile but the early signs are that our recycling rate is going to be higher this year than last.

"The Government has given us very challenging targets.

"In 2003 in Swindon 14.5 per cent of household waste was recycled, and the target for 2006 is 36 per cent."

He stressed that the only way it can be done is with the co-operation of the public.