MORE than half of rubbish was recycled across Colchester last year, figures show.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) data showed the rates for 2018-19.

In Colchester, 54 per cent of the borough’s rubbish was recycled - up four per cent on the previous year.

Overall five per cent less residual waste - black bags which go to landfill - was generated during the year.

In total 28,570 tonnes of residual waste was collected between April 2018 to March 2019.

The biggest increase in recycling came from plastics, which rose by 14 per cent.

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It comes after the council extended the collection of plastic recycling to residents living in flats last summer.

There were also 10,000 tonnes of garden waste collected last year.

Martin Goss, Colchester Council’s waste boss, said: “These latest figures reflect the effort residents and the council have put into increasing recycling and reducing material sent to landfill.

“Introducing plastic recycling in flats has clearly had a positive impact and there is still more we can do to reduce our ecological impact and live more sustainably, but these figures show we’re continuing to see improvements and are heading in the right direction.”