A COUNCIL chief has told of his delight after recycling rates in West Oxfordshire almost doubled in the last six months.

Last November West Oxfordshire District Council introduced a new recycling scheme.

At that point, only 34 per cent of waste was recycled in the district. That figure is now 66 per cent. New statistics show 10,036 tonnes of waste was recycled between December 2010 and April 2011, compared to 5,545 tonnes the previous year.

David Harvey, cabinet member for environment, said: “The council had hoped the previous 34 per cent recycling rate would be doubled within the first year of the new service.

“We knew that this was an ambitious and demanding target, so we are absolutely delighted that this has almost happened within the first few months.

“Residents in West Oxfordshire have responded extremely positively to the new service and we are very grateful to them. This impressive increase would not have been possible without their fantastic support.”

Mr Harvey said the service, which involved more than 45,000 households, had faced teething problems.

He added: “Although the service is not perfect yet, it is on the whole running smoothly and we hope to continue building on the success of recent months.”

The new service brought in weekly recycling and food waste collections and fortnightly garden and non-recyclable waste collections.