Households in South Derbyshire are being asked to help shape the future of their kerbside collection scheme.

 The District Council is looking to introduce a new all encompassing service to include plastics and cardboard.

 With a tender process soon to start, residents can fill in a questionnaire to have a say on what they would like to see.

 It is proposed to replace the current green boxes, textile and blue bags with a third larger bin to allow for the widest range of recyclables to be collected from the doorstep from June 2013.

 The online survey will ask five simple questions; from what materials could be collected to the colour of bin residents would like to see.

 Ideas, comments and suggestions, together with contributions provided during a recent doorstepping campaign, are to be used to simplify the recycling process, help the environment and increase participation.

 Cllr Peter Watson, Chairman of Environmental and Development Services at South Derbyshire District Council, said: “This survey is an opportunity for our residents to tell us what changes they would like to see to their recycling collections and influence future developments in the service.”

 The survey – available from www.south-derbys.gov.uk – needs to be filled in and returned by May 31, 2012.

It is expected the enhanced facilities will push up South Derbyshire’s recycling rate, currently the best in the county, from 49 per cent to 53 per cent and decrease the amount of waste being sent to landfill by 2,500 tonnes.