The landfill tip at Broad Oak will stop taking household waste in 2013 as Canterbury City Council introduces a full doorstep recycling scheme, including food leftovers and glass.

The project is among several new environmental contracts being drawn up for the district which wants to split up waste collection, street cleaning, public toilets and ground maintenance to get better value.

How the full doorstep recycling scheme will operate and how many containers will be needed will be the process of a long investigation and consultation, but the council accepts it may not be practical for some residents.

The authority has joined forces with Thanet, Dover and Shepway to produce a joint environmental waste scheme which it says will cut costs and up recycling rates.

Householders will have separate containers for glass, paper/cardboard and waste food, the latter being collected weekly.

Head of Environmental Services Larissa Laing said that all the waste will go to the Thanet Waste site at Sandwich. Anything which could not be recycled will then be transferred to a new plant at Allington where it will be burned to generate energy.

She said: “There is an opportunity to significantly increase our recycling rates and we know that people would rather not have to make journeys to the tip with their bottles and don’t want food waste in their bins for too long.

“But we also appreciate it won’t be practical for everyone and we will have to make special arrangements.”

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