BIN it, don't bag it - that's the message from Poole Council as the borough's new £1.36m kerbside recycling collection begins today (Sept 6).

The lines of blue bins standing to attention on the town's streets will take an assortment of paper, cardboard, glass, cans and some plastics and there is no need for residents to separate them.

That will be done at a recycling centre in Kent, where truckloads of recyclable materials from the 52,000 bins will be taken.

Many residents have welcomed the scheme but there have been complaints about the colour of the bins and the need to transport the material to Kent.

"I doubt if we will make any contribution to saving the planet by using 30 gallons of diesel to transport each 40 tons of the tens of thousands of tons collected in Poole, all the way to Kent where lots of fancy electrical powered machines will sort it," said Peter Steer.

Cllr Tony Trent said he shared residents' concerns and hoped it was a temporary measure until a local site was developed.

Peter Pawlowski, head of consumer protection, said the nearest recycling papermill was in Kent and paper had been taken there for many years.

"The new recycling facility is the only one able to take the huge range of materials for recycling and by dealing with these at the same time we are able to make considerable environmental and economic savings," he said.

He added: "This is a hugely popular scheme, where most residents have immediately recognised the benefits of the hugely extended range of products that will be able to be recycled from home and collected at the kerbside."

Council leader Brian Leverett said: "We are receiving a large number of compliments from residents for this new initiative and it is one of our most popular policies."

He added: "Not to address recycling would be totally irresponsible but we must look at what is the most practical and economic way of doing it."

Champion recyclers who fill up their 140-litre bin before their fortnightly collection will be able to get a bigger recycling bin.

Tip clampdown traffic chaos 'frightening'

"FRIGHTENING" - that was the verdict of people on a Poole retail estate to the traffic chaos caused by new rules at civic amenity sites.

As queues stretched from the Nuffield Road site back to Fleetsbridge, companies under siege witnessed some alarming behaviour.

"It was frightening," said Di Jacobs, who works the weighbridge at the scrap metal operation next to the site. "We even had buses coming down the wrong side of the road into oncoming traffic.

"People were driving on the pavements. Entrances were blocked and delivery trucks couldn't get in.

"The police were called twice and the helicopter was overhead seeing what was going on," she said.

Having queued for 40 minutes, Corfe Mullen resident John Fisher was turned away with his bags of garden waste when he finally got to the head of the line.

"There were no notices and nobody walking up the long line of traffic to tell you that unless you are local you can't dump your rubbish," said Mr Fisher.

He said he went to Poole because it was convenient and knows residents on the outskirts of the borough who use the Wimborne facility, because it is closer.

"I have been going to Poole for nearly 20 years," he said. "It's ridiculous. Why isn't there a massive great garden waste disposal place for everyone to use?"

Peter Pawlowski, head of consumer protection, said: "As a result of Dorset and Bournemouth redirecting people to Poole, a number of non-Poole residents have been trying to use the site, which has meant some people have been turned away causing delays.

"We are confident that this will soon be resolved and that we can go on providing a continually improved service," he said.

First published: Sept 6