SUSTAINABLE Crediton now have three plastics collections operating in Mid Devon.

As well as the familiar collection at Crediton, the group now have secondary sites running alongside in the villages of Cheriton Fitzpaine and Sandford.

January, it says, was a bumper month with 67 dumpy bags of waste plastic being collected over the three sites.

This was the most ever achieved and represents more than a tonne of plastic waste saved from landfill.

After each collection the plastic is taken to Peninsula Waste Services in North Tawton where it is sorted and sent on to recycling facilities to be re-made into useful items such as plant pots, garden furniture and traffic cones.

Ann Tucker, whose "brain child" the collections were originally, commented: "How much better to recycle our plastic waste like this than to send it to landfill where it takes 500 years or more to decompose.

"We are delighted with the growing public response to our collections in and around Crediton.

"It really shows people are becoming much more aware of the importance of reusing and recycling valuable resources.

"We would like to thank everyone who brings their plastic to our recycling days for taking the trouble to save it up and dispose of it responsibly."

Charles Mossman, who runs the Cheriton Fitzpaine collection, said: "Facilities for recycling plastic are improving in the UK all the time.

"As of our March collection dates we can now accept bubble wrap as well as all our usual items.

"However we would always prefer that items are reused more than once before they are recycled when possible.

"So, if you have good bubble wrap sitting at home, if you can, please offer it to the charity shops first where it can be used for wrapping fragile items. We can always accept it for recycling later, once it has been used several times and become old and tatty!"

The next plastics collections in Sandford and Cheriton Fitzpaine will take place from March 24 to 29, with a collection morning at Peck and Strong on Lords Meadow Industrial Estate, Crediton, on Saturday, March 29, from 10am to 12.30pm.

If you live in one of the other villages around Crediton and would like to know how to start up a collection where you live, you can contact Sustainable Crediton's Waste Action Group by emailing: [email protected]">[email protected] .