WHAT should you do with your old cardboard, whether it’s from food packaging or new household items?

Answer: if it’s clean, put it in your blue bin, not your brown one.

The reminder comes from Fenland District Council as it seeks to maximise the amount of material that it recycles.

Residents are also being encouraged to use their blue bins for all their discarded paper, including newspapers, magazines, envelopes (including those with windows) and computer print.

But shredded paper should go in the brown bins because the fibres are no longer suitable for recycling.

Councillor Peter Murphy, FDC’s portfolio holder responsible for the environment, said: “Cardboard and paper are important recycling materials, and putting all your clean cardboard, as well as paper, in your blue bin provides the council with income towards maintaining the standard of our services.

“There are also good environmental reasons to put cardboard in your blue bin, because when it goes into the brown bin it can only be composted once, whereas it can be recycled many times using the blue bin.

“Some people have got used to putting it in their brown bins and we appreciate that habits are hard to break. So, just as a reminder, our refuse teams are putting special purple stickers on some brown bins where they find clean cardboard.

“For your own security, please also remember to tear off and shred any paper showing your address or any other personal details, such as bank account or credit card numbers.”

• If you run out of space in your blue bin, you can pick up free clear sacks from any of the Fenland @ your service shops or ask the crew who collect in your street.