A series of roadshows will be held around Swale to inform people about changes to the way the council runs its rubbish and recycling services.

New food waste collections are due to be introduced to the borough’s 60,000 households from Monday, April 7, and it is hoped they will boost Swale’s position in a national league table.

Residents will be receiving two news bins – a small silver container to keep in the kitchen for food waste and a larger black and orange one to empty the contents of the smaller one into which will be collected every week.

This change will only be introduced to those who have bins emptied - black sack collections will stay the same until later in the year.

The idea is to enhance the increased recycling collections which were introduced in December, allowing residents to put more items in the blue wheelie bins and clear sacks.

As well as these changes, the small waste electrical and electronic items collection has been expanded to include waste textiles (clothing, bed sheets, curtains, towels and shoes).

Electronics are taken one week alongside refuse and textiles are taken the following week with the other recycling.

“They’re convenient, effective and easy to use, and are proven to make a real difference.

Swale council's cabinet member for environment and rural affairs, Cllr David Simmons, said: “It’s important we try and recycle as much as we can and these services will help.

“Our job is to stop food waste being collected and treated as pure waste.”

It is hoped, with the support of Swale’s residents, the borough’s recycling rate could climb from its current position of 269th in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ league table of English councils to be among the top 75.

Biffa is the council’s contractor and director Pete Dickson said they had learnt useful lessons from services offered in Ashford.

“We know from experience, both here in Kent and elsewhere in Britain, that collecting waste food really does push up local recycling,” he said.

As well as improving recycling, the 10-year contract with Biffa will save more than £300,000 as it’s in partnership with Ashford and Maidstone borough councils.