A FORECAST for Newport shows a bright future for the environment, with the city's recycling rate, already one of the best in Wales, set to improve even further.

It is calculated that 28 per cent of rubbish will be spared from the tip by next year after the target of 25 per cent was reached in 2004 - two years early.

Residents recycled or composted 19,000 tonnes of rubbish last year and this is expected to rise to 21,500 tonnes this year.

Newport council hopes that the rise in recycling will come from a number of sources such as * more people using the green and blue box scheme * an extra 4,000 orange bins distributed for garden waste * a pilot project (FAB) involving the composting of food waste and cardboard * the fortnightly bin collection.

Councillor Ray Truman, Newport's cabinet member for community safety and sustainable development said: "We've come a long way in recycling but these forecast figures show how hard it is to get big increases once you get over a 20 per cent recycling rate.

"We'll continue to get more schemes to more people, but increasing efforts are being made to get those who aren't recycling to start giving us the basic materials."

Wastesavers are more than halfway through a six week "door-knocking" campaign.

Eight door-knockers, including two who are multilingual, are visiting 24,000 Newport residents to promote recycling and answer queries.

In the first quarter of this year, 1,300 tonnes of garden waste were collected in the a new scheme, compared to 600 tonnes in the same quarter last year, though this was collected from 10,000 fewer orange topped bins.

More than 14 tonnes of garden waste, cardboard and food waste were collected on the first Monday of the FAB project.

More information about Newport's recycling and refuse schemes can be found on the council website or by calling the council contact centre.

For further information call 01633 656656 or visit www.newport.gov.uk/recyclefornewport.