AS part of the county’s drive to increase recycling and reduce the amount of waste thrown away each year, a study will be carried out by councils in Hampshire’s waste partnership, Project Integra, to find out more about what people are putting in their bins.

Rob Humby, Hampshire County Council’s executive member for environment and transport, said: “Finding ways to increase recycling and reduce the amount of waste produced in Hampshire is high on our agenda, as it would bring both financial and environmental benefits.

Collectively in Hampshire, councils spend around £100m each year dealing with household waste. By analysing the sort of material people are throwing away and what they are recycling, we can look at where we might make changes to our services and invest in our facilities to help keep the amount of waste to a minimum.”

The survey will involve taking samples from both recycling and general waste collected across Hampshire to see what materials are being thrown away and what is being put in recycling bins.

Mr Humby continued: “Labelling on packaging can sometimes be confusing. People in Hampshire are very good at recycling plastic bottles, for example, but other materials, such as food packaging trays or disposable coffee cups which look like they’re made of card, can’t be recycled in the processing plants that we have currently, because they consist of layers of different materials.

“It’s important we have up-to-date information on what people are putting in their bins, so we can ensure our services are fit for purpose in the long term.”

Waste put out for collection at a random sample of properties will be collected and sorted into material types to provide an overall picture of the different materials within Hampshire’s waste stream.

Samples from Hampshire’s household waste recycling centres will also be included in the study. No materials will be retained or stored after the analysis and no information that could identify an individual will be collected or reported.