More than 1,600 extra recycling containers were requested in Mendip last week as the district gears up for the launch of Recycle More tomorrow (October 26).

And with such high demand for green boxes, black boxes and food waste bins, Somerset Waste Partnership (SWP) is urging people to make use of the online ordering option wherever possible.

Recycle More starts in Mendip tomorrow and will see a wider range of materials collected from the kerbside every week, including plastic pots, tubs and trays. As well as helping protect the environment, it will cost £2 million less every year.

As the launch approaches, many residents are following SWP's advice and making sure they have all the containers they need to make full use of the weekly collections.

New or replacement containers can be ordered for free using the My Waste Service menu on SWP's website.

Mickey Green, SWP managing director, said: "I'm pleased that people are preparing for the change and we believe the new service will see people recycling more of everything, not just the new materials.

"Every household can have at least one of each recycling container and ordering them is quick and easy online.

"Somerset has a great recycling record, but we can do even better. Still more than half the contents of the average bin in the county could have been recycled and that's something we need to change."

Each household in Mendip should have had a Bright Blue Bag delivered ahead of launch. The base-weighted, 60-litre bags will help with the extra items being collected in the biggest shake-up of recycling in the county for a decade.

Recycle More is adding the following to weekly recycling collections:

• Plastic pots, tubs and trays
• Food and drink cartons such as Tetra Pak
• Small batteries and small electrical items

More recycling means less rubbish, so rubbish bins and sacks will be collected every three weeks instead of every two. Collection days will change for around a third of households.

The Recycle More leaflet recently delivered to all households in the district includes a calendar giving the date of their first Recycle More collection. It also sets out collection days for the next 12 months.

What items need to go into which recycling container will change with Recycle More. So, the leaflet also includes a diagram to keep for future reference.

• Bright Blue Bag – plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays; tins and cans, aerosols and foil
• Green box – glass bottles and jars, and cartons including Tetra Pak
• Black box – paper and card
• Brown food waste bin – all food waste
• Carrier bags – small household batteries, small electrical items (crews will return bags)