PEOPLE living in Hambleton and Richmondshire have recycled more than 11,000 tonnes of waste in just over 12 months – equivalent to the weight of the Eiffel Tower.

In a year, people in Hambleton sent more than 7,000 tonnes of material for recycling, while in Richmondshire 4,603 tonnes were processed.

The combined material, made up of paper, glass, cans, plastic bottles and cardboard collected is heavier than Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower, which weighs about 10,000 tonnes.

Waste management and recycling company Yorwaste, which processes and sells the material on behalf of both district councils, is hoping to increase this figure  further in the next 12 months.

Paul Staines operations manager at Hambleton and Richmondshire District Councils said: “Yorwaste has been very pro-active in helping to maximise tonnages of recyclate collected and contributed to 50 per cent of the cost of new blue recycling bags in Hambleton to encourage more paper to be recycled. It is hoped this will enable an estimated 425 tons of paper and light card to be collected.”

Starting in January 2012, Northallerton-based Yorwaste started work on a three-year contract to handle all recyclable material collected from kerbsides and bring banks across the two districts.

Tony Sharkey Director of Future Developments at Yorwaste, said: “As part of the contract we guaranteed prices for the sale of recyclables so the authorities receive maximum value for the material collected from kerbside and bring banks”.