A MAJOR green project to recycle garden waste is to double following the success of the first phase.

Another 14,000 households in the borough will be given special "brown bins" later this month, which will be emptied fortnightly from their doorsteps.

Figures show that 90 tonnes of waste were collected in the first two weeks of the scheme and sent for composting: material that previously ended up in landfill sites. Only two per cent of the bins had to be rejected because they contained general waste.

The move is part of a Government-backed, £600,000 programme which will ultimately see 28,000 local homes being given more bins to collect paper, glass, cans and textiles.

Bury Council, which recently won a Greater Manchester Race to Recycle Award for boosting its paper recycling rates, hopes the garden waste scheme will help it reach its target of recycling eight per cent of Bury's waste by the end of next year.

Councillor Stella Smith, executive member for environment and transport, said: "We cannot go on throwing waste away. Everyone has a responsibility to try to live more sustainably but the fact that the scheme has got off to a fantastic start is in no small measure down to Bury's residents. Participation rates have been excellent so far and residents have been overwhelmingly supportive of the garden waste scheme."