RESIDENTS in north Oxfordshire are being thanked for putting the 'right thing in the right bin' with a significant rise in recycling being recorded over the Christmas and New Year period.

During the two weeks covering Christmas and New Year, a 30 per cent spike saw dry recycling collected by Cherwell District Council weigh in at 613 tonnes.

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That is 141 tonnes more than the same period the previous year.

Both January 8 and 9 were particularly heavy days for Cherwell crews; they collected over 90 tonnes of recycling on each day.

This was approaching double the weights they empty on a typical day.

Councillor Dan Sames, Lead Member for Clean and Green, said: “With most of us spending this Christmas at home, there was a considerable increase in the amount of cardboard, paper and plastic we all disposed of in our blue bins. Given the increase in internet shopping this is hardly surprising.

"Fortunately, this increase was not matched by an increase in residual waste that we put in our green bins. This shows that all of us as residents are doing our best to recycle our waste.”