THE recycling revolution is being taken even further following the success of green initiatives in the Hambleton area.

Glass, paper, cans and clothing in the district is already being recycled through a wide network of collection points.

Now plastic bottles are being added to the list, with banks being set up in both Northallerton and Thirsk.

Everything from milk and lemonade bottles to cleaning and shampoo containers can be dumped in the banks and all of it will end up being recycled.

The initiative has been launched by Hambleton District Council and is funded by the environmental body Yorventure, backed by waste management company Yorwaste, of Northallerton.

It follows the success of an experimental kerbside collecting scheme set up six months ago in the east Thirsk area.

During the pilot scheme almost 50 tonnes of plastic waste has been collected, material that would normally have ended up in a landfill site.

"Plastic takes up a lot of space in the dustbin," said Hambleton's spokesperson for environmental health, Councillor Arthur Barker, yesterday.

"But by recycling just one bottle we can save enough energy to power a 60 watt lightbulb for 60 hours."

He added: "This is a very important new venture for us and one we expect to be very popular with the public."

Funding for the scheme has come from Yorventure using landfill tax credits from Yorwaste.

Yorwaste managing director Steve Grieve said: "The Government stresses the importance of using this tax to promote and encourage sustainable waste management practices, particularly recycling.

"The plastic bottle scheme is a perfect example of that."

All plastic bottles must be clean, squashed and without their lids.

Plastic toys, tubs, yogurt pots, plant pots and anything that is not a bottle cannot be accepted.

The plastic bottle banks can be found in the car parks of B&Q in Northallerton and Tesco in Thirsk.