A NEW recycling scheme for small electrical goods has collected 10 tonnes of items in its first month.

Cherwell District Council launched a doorstep collection service for broken or unwanted electrical items.

Households have been given a pink carrier bag for the electrical items, which can be left on top of wheelie bins on collection day.

Any electrical item that can fit in the bag such as hairdryers, toasters, radios and kitchen appliances can be recycled.

Special cages have been fitted to dustcarts for the pink bags.

During March households sent 10,000 kgs of goods the equivalent of 5,000 toasters or 9,000 hairdryers Nigel Morris, Cherwell’s lead member for clean and green, said: “It is great that in such a short space of time we have recycled so many items.

“It goes to show how popular this scheme is and how successful it has been since it was introduced.

“As a council we regularly promote the benefits of recycling but we understand it is not always possible for people to visit our bring banks.

“So by providing initiatives whereby people can recycle even more items from home it makes the process a lot more customer friendly, and as a result, even more environmentally friendly.”

Previously residents could only recycle small electrical items through dedicated bring banks.

Anything too big to fit inside the bags, such as televisions and fridges, do not qualify for the scheme.