Recycling is on the rise in Merton, a drop in the amount of rubbish dumped in landfill sites suggests.

Merton Council said new figures show 54,694 tonnes of waste was sent from the borough to landfill from March 2009 to April 2010 - a fall of 15 per cent from the last financial year, which has avoided £400,000 in landfill taxes.

The authority has also rolled out its food was collection service to 10,000 more households - taking the total that receive it to 40,000. It has also invested £1.3m in a fleet of 10 new recycling vehicles.

The council’s deputy leader, councillor Mark Betteridge, said: “The more we recycle, the less we send to landfill, which is good news for the environment. Also, if we carry on as we are and don’t cut the amount of rubbish we send to landfill, we could see around £2.6million going on landfill tax this financial year.”