A Douglas councillor says too few people use kerbside recycling.

The amount f paper, plastic, aluminium cans and glass collected by the council hasn’t increased significantly over the last year, according to Ritchie McNicoll.

He is the chair of the environmental services committee, which is responsible for the local authority’s waste management policies.

Of all household waste disposed of by the council, around 7% is gathered from kerbside recycling, a figure Councillor McNicoll has described as posing ’a real problem’.

He says he is puzzled as to why more people in Douglas aren’t using the street collection service, despite a recent push at both local and national level to improve recycling levels across the island.

The service is offered to 86% of households in Douglas, with collections twice a month, yet only 35% of those chose to use it.

With gate fees at the incinerator, officially known as the energy from waste plant (where non-recyclable material is burned), expected to rise above £100 per tonne next year, Mr McNicoll says more recycling would lower ratepayer costs.