Recycling rates in an outer London borough have nearly doubled since the introduction of a new waste collection services at the end of last year.

In the three months to March, recycling and composting rates in Kingston upon Thames reached 47%, up from 25% in the equivalent quarter last year.

The increase corresponds with the roll out of a weekly collection of recycling, including food waste, and a fortnightly collection of residuals.

The amount of food and kitchen waste composted has soared from 447t in 2007/08 to 2,417t in 2008/09, following the borough-wide roll-out of the new collection service. It gives 50,000 households the facility to separate their food waste. The amount of waste sent to landfill fell by 40% over the same period.

The borough’s official recycling rate for the 2008/09 financial year will be 35% as it includes the nine months before the new service was fully operational.

But the figures are expected to place Kingston among the top recycling boroughs in London.

Cllr Derek Osbourne, leader of the council, said: ‘The challenge is to build on this momentum and, by this time next year, be recycling and composting more than we are sending to landfill.’

Kingston is part of the South London Partnership, awarded £112.9M in private finance initiative credits in March to contribute to the cost of a new waste treatment facility.