SOMERSET householders will be able to leave out more materials for kerbside recycling, while electricity will be generated from previously buried rubbish.

The changes involve aligning multi-million pound contracts for waste collection, rubbish disposal and a new fleet of refuse and recycling vehicles - which are currently completely separate.

It will make services more efficient, increase recycling rates from 53 per cent to 60 per cent and cut waste costs by millions of pounds.

To speed up progress, Somerset Waste Partnership and waste collections contractor Kier are ending their current contract 18 months early in March 2020.

That will allow the replacement of the ageing fleet with newly-designed recycling and rubbish trucks that can collect more materials.

It will also bring forward tenders for the Recycle More kerbside waste collections contract, with extra recycling materials taken weekly and three-weekly rubbish collections.

It will coincide with Somerset’s switch from landfill rubbish burial to generating energy from waste at a facility being built in Avonmouth by contractor Viridor.

Cllr Derek Yeomans, chairman of Somerset Waste Board - which oversees SWP - said: "These co-ordinated changes will improve services for all residents in Somerset and are designed both to raise recycling rates and to ensure very significant economies of scale."

SWP managing director Mickey Green said: "This is a time to take major steps forward, improving services for Somerset residents, while also saving them money and improving the environment."

Julian Tranter, managing director of Kier environmental services, said: "We’re extremely proud of our work with Somerset Waste Partnership, where we’ve seen an increase in recycling to over 50 per cent, and helped implement some industry firsts, such as tracking every tonne of recycling to establish an annual register of what it all becomes."