The council, which covers Lancing, Shoreham and Southwick, already has a fortnightly blue box scheme which collects glass, newspapers and magazines as well as brochures, plastic bottles and steel and aluminium cans. But under the trial, the blue boxes will be collected weekly and refuse will be picked up every two weeks.
The ten-week trial will start on September 1 and will cover 500 homes. The council has not yet confirmed which area will be taking part in the scheme but the trial area will be closely monitored to ensure that domestic waste does not build up and become problematic.
Adur District Council's current recycling rate is 17% and the council must increase this to 33% by 2004 to meet government targets. The council hopes that by reducing the frequency of the rubbish collection residents will be encouraged to recycle as 12% more rubbish was produced in the district last year.
Residents taking part in the trial will also be given a blue sack in which to put their putresible waste. This will also be collected weekly and will enable the council to see how much compostable material is being thrown away. The trial will help them decide whether it would be worthwhile setting up a kitchen waste collection scheme.
Gill Moss, recycling officer for Adur District Council, said: “Government recycling targets mean that we have to double our recycling rate by 2003/04. We decided that drastic needed to be done so we sent out a questionnaire to 2,000 properties in four areas to determine which areas would be most receptive to a reduced refuse collection and increased recycling service.”
She added: “It is quite a radical approach but we want to make people more aware of what they are throwing away and turn waste into a more positive thing.”
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