RECYCLING bins are being installed in the town centre to encourage more recycling on the go.

In total, 14 banks of bins will be installed in key locations in Colchester town centre, including Castle Park, the High Street, Head Street and St John’s Street.

Each bin features three compartments for glass and cans, paper and plastic. These also include cigarette bins.

The £21,000 project has been funded by Colchester Council as part of its Better Colchester campaign.

The bins will replace 14 general waste bins which will be moved to other parts of the town.

Colchester Council said it was part of a drive reduce the amount of waste ending up in landfill.

Residents across the borough recycle 53 per cent of rubbish and, during the period from June 2017 to May 2018, helped achieve a reduction of over 10,000 tonnes of waste going to landfill than over the same period the previous year.

Martin Goss (Lib Dem), councillor responsible for waste, said: “The residents of Colchester do a tremendous job recycling their rubbish and, over the past year, we have seen a major decrease in the amount of material going to landfill.

“By extending the opportunity for people to recycle when they are out and about in the town, we hope to boost our excellent recycling efforts even further.”

The council’s 12-strong team of town centre zone operatives will be responsible for emptying the bins, as part of their street-cleaning programme.

Litter picks are carried out daily, as well as pavement washing, litter bin emptying and enforcement.

Ten new jubilee litter bins will also be replacing some existing bins throughout the borough and a set of old recycling bins from Head Street will be relocated to West Mersea.