A FORMER binman is turning east Cleveland green.

Anthony Smith has piloted a paper recycling project that will be expanded across the district.

The new recycling officer for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council has set a 20 tonne-a-week target for the Blue Bag pilot, launched in June, for 30,000 homes in Redcar, Marske, New Marske, Saltburn and Guisborough.

But residents have been bagging an averageof 30 tonnes each week for the scheme, a partnership between the council and Cheshire Recycling, which makes fortnightly collections.

The wastepaper; newspapers, magazines and pamphlets, is taken to Cheshire for recycling and is quickly back on the newstands, with £1 for every tonne going to the Save The Children Fund.

Eric Jackson, the district mayor, will launch the scheme among the borough's remaining 30,000 homes on Monday.

Mr Smith spent five years as a binman before studying waste management.

He said: "We estimated it would take 60 per cent of households in the pilot project area to get us 20 tonnes a week, but we are doing far better that. The public has definitely taken to it and if we get the same response across the borough we will be delighted."