WINCHESTER residents have been contributing to the council's plan to become carbon neutral by recycling previously unrecyclable cartons.

The bins at the Cattle Market car park have seen 1.5 tonne of waste since April 2020.

This means that between 650 and 700kg of carbon has been saved through the scheme.

Giving an update at the full council meeting, Cllr Martin Tod said: "We have now had the carton recycling bins at the cattle market car park in central Winchester for eight months.

"These have been provided free by ACE UK, who reprocess the cartons once collected, and since April we have recycled 1.5 tonnes in total.

"According to a recent academic study from the University of Southampton, tonne of recycled cartons saves the carbon equivalent of around 450 kg.

"In total that means that around 650 to 700kg of carbon have been saved by Winchester residents.

"Feedback from ACE UK from the Cattle Market site has been that the system is operating well and the contamination rate is low."

The council is now reviewing with them options for extending this scheme, subject to identifying other suitable sites and financial considerations.