WASTE recycling has given a £5,000 boost to County Durham charities.

Premier Waste Manage-ment, the company which runs Kerb-it household waste recycling collections, pledged to donate £1 to charity for every tonne of paper, cans and glass bottles it collected.

In the past two years, as the kerbside collections have been introduced in Sedgefield, Durham, Chester-le-Street and Easington, the Kerb-it Charity Fund has grown.

And cheques for £1,000 have been presented to civic leaders in each of the districts, and also to the leader of Durham County Council, to be passed to their adopted charities.

Benefiting are Butterwick Hospice, in Sedgefield, St Cuthbert's Hospice, in Durham, Chester West Action Group and Chester-le-Street Theatre Group, both in Chester-le-Street, Macmillan Cancer Relief, in Easington and Friends of Hardwick Country Park.

Kerbside recycling col-lections have been introduced to reduce the amount of waste buried in landfill sites.

* Charities wanting to benefit from the Kerb-it Charity Fund are asked to write to Gary Whitehead at Premier Waste Management Limited, Prospect House, Aykley Heads Business Centre, Aykley Heads, Dur-ham DH1 5TS.