A DUDLEY Council scheme to help market traders do their bit for the environment has scooped national recognition.

A waste recycling scheme which has seen a whopping 58 tonnes of cardboard sent for re-use has been handed the Best Community and Neighbourhood Initiative award from the by the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE).

The initiative has also seen unwanted food waste has go to Brockswood Animal Sanctuary in Sedgley, where 140 creatures including a llama and ponies are getting healthy food which would otherwise have been dumped in landfill.

So far the council says the scheme, which has been running since March and includes a change to the numbers of bins in the market, has saved Dudley Council Tax payers £27,500.

Councillor Judy Foster, Dudley cabinet member for regeneration, said: “The scheme has worked really well thanks to the efforts of the market traders and our waste disposal teams. To pick up this national award in recognition of our recycling efforts is an added bonus. And of course the regular donations to the animal sanctuary also support the work of a charity which relies on food donations.”

Greengrocers Alan Bennett and Kevin Moore, who have stalls on the market, are also keen on the scheme.

Mr Bennett said: “We are proud to have been involved in this from the start. It’s great that otherwise waste produce goes to such a good cause and that the cardboard is being tidied away and recycled.”