A ‘GOLD star’ scheme has started to be awarded to residents who put out the right rubbish for recycling.

In West Sussex, council initiatives have included rewarding residents who recycled correctly with a ‘gold star’ bin sticker across some boroughs and trialling the use of recycling bags in poor performing areas.

But Surrey County Council has topped the recycling rate comapared to neighbouring counties. Surrey had a recycling rate of 55 per cent in 2015/16 – up from 53.2 per cent in 2014/15.

West Sussex councillors says residents should feel proud recycling rates are rising across the county. Thanks to their “fantastic efforts” it has risen from 41.6 per cent in 2014/15 to 42.3 per cent in 2015/16.

That is an increase of 2,400 tonnes, equal to a saving of more than £200,000 in landfill tax. West Sussex says the recycling rate is also higher than two of its neighbouring counties – Hampshire (39.1 per cent) and East Sussex (41.6 per cent) over the same period.

West Sussex County Council member for residents services David Barling said: “I want to express my thanks and congratulations to residents. Recycling as much as we can is very important.

“These simple actions make such a big difference to our environment. This achievement also demonstrates the value of working closely with our district and borough partners who have introduced a number of imaginative and successful recycling campaigns over the course of the year.”