Glass bottles and jars for recycling can now go on residents’ green wheelie bins, after the council approved changes to reduce costs.

By not having a completely separate collection of glass, with additional lorries and refuse collectors, Sutton Council is hoping to cut the amount of waste sent to landfill and save more than £3million by 2022.

The changes were made under the South London Waste Partnership, with Croydon, Merton and Kingston, which earlier this year secured £113m of investment from the government, to improve how they handle waste and boost recycling.

Councillor Colin Hall, executive member for environment on Sutton Council, said: “Landfill space is running out fast and it gets more expensive every year to put our rubbish in the ground.

"It’s really damaging to the environment too as landfill releases climate changing gases.

“We need to recycle more and produce less waste but we can only do this by working together.

"That means the council working with residents to make it even easier to recycle. It also means working with other boroughs, like we are doing, to cut costs and share ideas for better working.

“If the Executive approves these proposals, our message to residents will be simple: use green or blue, it’s up to you, and help us protect the environment and save money too.”

Residents who wish to keep using their blue box as well as the green bin will still have their glass for recycling collected by the council.

The new collection scheme started on Monday.

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