RESIDENTS in Blaenau Gwent will see a shake up in the way they recycle with a new system being introduced from this month.

Trolibocs, a stack of three recycling boxes on a wheeled trolley unit, are being distributed to every household in the borough between now and October in a bid to increase the council's recycling rates.

The top box is for paper, the middle box is for household metal or plastic packaging like cans, foil, bottles and punnets, and the bottom box is for glass and cardboard.

The change, which was agreed last year by Blaenau Gwent Council's Scrutiny Committee, will also see wheelie bins or black bags collections now take place every three weeks rather than every fortnight. Household recycling and food waste will continue to be collected every week.

It is hoped the shake up will encourage more people to recycle their waste and moving Blaenau Gwent Council nearer to the Welsh Government's recycling target it has set to all local authorities.

Under current Welsh Government targets, local authorities must recycle at least 52 per cent of all the waste it collects but this figure is set to increase to 58 per cent from March next year. If councils do not meet the targets, they could see financial penalties.

Blaenau Gwent Council also revealed it hopes the new service will "generate extra income for savings that the Council is required to make". It added the strapline: "Blaenau Gwent’s recycling services are changing for the better."

Currently the Council has to fork out money to have the recycling sorted after collection and there is an ongoing cost of providing the current blue and clear bags. The new way of sorting recycling will mean the material will be of a higher quality that can then be sold to the marketplace.

Residents will now receive a letter and a flyer through their doors explaining the changes between now and October 2015.

The council is urging residents to store the trolibocs in a safe place until they need to start using it, which will be from the autumn. Residents will also be sent information packs in the coming months of more information about when the new service will begin.