A CROSS party group of 13 eco-friendly district councillors are getting together to 'Slim their Bins' in a bid to reduce the district's rubbish mountain.

The enthusiastic party of waste watchers is hoping their efforts will encourage Bromsgrove residents to do the same and cut down on the amount of household rubbish taken to landfill sites.

The trimming down exercise is to give members first hand experience of how to slash the trash in their area, and each participant will receive a compost bin, a storage box for recyclables, a kitchen bin and a set of scales to monitor their progress.

The leader of Bromsgrove District Council, Councillor Dennis Norton (Con-Norton), who is taking part in the scheme, said: "We want to prove that with a little time and effort, we can all reduce our weekly rubbish by recycling and composting.

"Last year's campaign, involving residents in Perryfields Crescent and Perryfields Close, Sidemoor, was a great success and this year we are hoping to spread the message further by involving members throughout the whole district."

Nearly 350,000 tonnes of household waste was collected last year in Worcestershire and Herefordshire - enough to fill 4,800 double-decker buses. Ninety per cent of this rubbish was taken to landfill sites.

Richard Johnson, Bromsgrove's assistant environment strategy officer, said: "We are rapidly running out of landfill space and need to find other ways of disposing of our waste.

"Recycling and composting are excellent methods of diverting waste to further uses and it is amazing how much difference this can make to the total amount of rubbish we have to get rid of," he added.

The four-week exercise, running from October 21 to November 15, has been organised by the district council, with support from Worcestershire County Council.