WORCESTERSHIRE residents have been praised for their efforts in recycling.

New figures released by Worcestershire County Council show that last year, 72,500 tonnes of waste was processed by EnviroSort, the state-of the-art sorting facility in Norton, near Worcester.

This is a four per cent increase on the previous year.

Councillor Anthony Blagg, Worcestershire County Council cabinet member for environment, said: "The recycling figures are very encouraging and people have definitely played their part in making sure they continue to send their waste to be sorted and sent for recycling. Residents deserve to be praised for their efforts which are also helping the environment by reducing the amount of rubbish sent to landfill sites.

Councillor Ron Davis, executive board member for the environment at Wychavon District Council, said: “We’re delighted to see our residents continue to recycle in such large amounts, which is great for the environment and helps to keep costs down. But we all need to ensure we aren’t complacent.

"I would like to encourage residents to build on their good efforts to date and consider if there is more that they could recycle, especially as they can always request an extra green bin to do this.”