A £1M recycling scheme is set to be launched in the Malvern Hills as a benefit to the district's 70,000 residents.

Malvern Hills District Council is piloting the scheme, which involves residents disposing recyclable materials in colour-coded plastic sacks for collection.

Several routes will be trailled in January, before the scheme is launched next April, or May.

About 15,000 properties in North and West Malvern, Malvern Wells, Powick, Callow End, Rushwick, Leigh Sinton, Suckley, Kempsey, Severn Stoke, Ripple, Upton-upon-Severn Hanley Swan and Hanley Castle and will take part in the pilot scheme.

Residents will be able to recycle paper, textiles, plastics and metals in the sacks, which will be collected fortnightly.

A glass-recycling scheme will also be piloted in Malvern next spring, before being extended throughout the council's area.

The full kerbside recycling scheme is expected to cost £1m to establish, with a £400,000 grant from the Department for the Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs and Worcestershire County Council providing £500,000 towards the start-up costs.

The district council has appointed a recycling officer and is also encouraging households to cut down on "green" waste by investing in a composting bin.

"This is like a trail-blazer to the full scheme we will be rolling out next spring," said Councillor Tom Wells, leader of the district council.

"Rather than doing the whole district at once, there is the benefit of trying some routes and learning from experience."

The council will lease three lorries at a cost of £1,000, while it awaits delivery of seven new vehicles.

Literature will be posted through residents' doors as the project is implemnetd, advising people what to do.

The council currently recycles about 10 per cent of recyclable waste material but Coun Wells said he was confident it would meet the Government's targets of recycling 18 per cent of recyclable waste once the kerbside scheme is in place.

"This scheme has been a long time coming in Malvern Hills and I think it's a really good news story for the district," he added.

"We've got to take the public with us, though, and create something that's simple to administer that allows the maximum compliance from the public."