ROSSENDALE recyclers are earning more money for every tonne of rubbish they save from landfill.

Contractors who take the borough's paper, plastics, tins and glass have saved on labour costs by improving their recycling technology, which means they pay Rossendale Council more per tonne for the materials put out by residents.

And with more and more household waste being recycled rather than put into landfill, the council is also making a saving on the amount of landfill tax it has to pay.

Environmentally-aware Rossendale residents already recycle almost 16 per cent of their rubbish, a figure which is way ahead of the 2003 Lancashire-wide target of 10 per cent.

And the council is promising to plough all the extra money back into schemes to make it easier for people to separate their waste. This means Rossendale will be well on its way to hitting its target of recycling 28 per cent of all household waste by 2004.

Plans to improve facilities include supplying an extra 13,500 homes with blue recycling bins, and putting extra recycling centres in Bacup, Whitworth and Rawtenstall.

Residents in Helmshore and the Hall Carr area are currently being contacted to see if they want free green cone waste digesters and garden waste composters.

And town hall staff are also looking into the idea of providing communal sites to store blue bins for people who live in flats, or up narrow lanes, where storage space is minimal.