A RECYCLING drive in Hartlepool has been hailed a huge success by council officials.

Blue boxes and plastic sacks have been delivered to about 28,000 homes in the town, allowing people to leave cans, glass, clothes and textiles outside their homes for fortnightly collection.

So far, the first round of collections, involving 6,500 homes, has seen 21.6 tonnes of recyclable waste collected.

Denise Ogden, Hartlepool Borough Council's environment manager, said: "We were delighted with the response of households involved in the first round of collections and we would like to thank them for their support.

"We would also urge other residents to show a similar commitment to the environment when collections begin in their areas in the coming weeks.

"The remaining 12,000 homes which have not yet been included in the scheme will soon be able to play their part as they should receive their boxes and bags in either February or March."

The blue box scheme will be officially launched today by the town's mayor, Stuart Drummond.

The council recently achieved its government-set target of recycling ten per cent of domestic waste two years early and is now aiming to boost that figure to 18 per cent by 2005/06.

It is hoped this latest initiative will prove as successful in the long-term as the council's blue bag kerbside waste paper collections which have been a major factor in increasing domestic waste recycling levels.