Oxford Brookes University has been awarded an £180,000 grant to fund research into recycling glass.

The grant, made to researchers at the university's school of hotel and restaurant management, is from the Government-funded Waste and Resources Action Programme.

It is part of a £3.6m funding package announced by WRAP last week for a total of 21 recycling research projects across the country.

A team from Brookes, based in Headington, aims to improve glass recycling techniques with a survey and collection scheme for licensed premises in west Oxfordshire.

To promote recycling in the district, it will work alongside the Environment Agency, breweries and a number of recycling companies.

WRAP is a non-profit making company funded by several Government departments, including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Nationally, WRAP hope the research grants will lead to an additional 300,000 tonnes of glass being recycled, together with another 40,000 tonnes of plastic and one million tonnes of wood.

WRAP chief executive Jennie Price said: "With over 65 million tonnes of waste from industry, commerce and households sent to landfill every year in the UK, the Government's commitment to developing a more sustainable approach to waste is a major challenge.

"WRAP has been set up to create stable and efficient markets for recycled material.

"Funding research into new uses and technologies is a key element in achieving this objective."