bags for recyclable waste.

Every household is to receive 10 blue bags through the post to encourage them to think about the environment.

It is part of the Ministry of Works and Engineering's waste management collection system due to start on November 16.

Collections of trash will now change from twice to once a week with private contractors collecting the blue bags and Government trucks continuing to pick up regular trash bags.

Minister of Works, the Hon. Clarence Terceira said: "We are sending 10 free bags to get everybody into the habit of recycling. After that they will have to buy their own.

"I think people will want to join in because the change will be a good change for the environment.

"In other countries similar schemes have worked because of peer pressure in every street. I feel that the number of cans, newspapers and glass collected will skyrocket.'' Bermuda already has a successful recycling programmes but the idea of the new scheme is to get every household and every person interested in helping the environment.

Residents are asked to use normal bags for trash that is not recyclable while filling the blue bags with aluminium cans, steel cans and glass, with newspapers bundled together separately.

When the blue bags are taken away they will be emptied and the different materials will be split up and exported.

Businesses have already made the first part of the recycling programme a success with thousands of tonnes of products being sent abroad for recycling.

The latest move is to provide "battery bins'' in stores for old batteries.

The Government expects the residential programme to cut the amount of regular waste handled by Government collectors by up to 15 percent.

Dr. Terceira said that the residential plan had been carefully coordinated to prevent a recurrence of a similar scheme in Toronto where many people did not understand the scheme and put all their refuse in the blue bags causing chaos.

He said: "We are covering every possible avenue to make sure people are aware of the scheme.'' One way of getting the message across begins today when Loop The Recycling Blue Bird will make his debut at Woodlands Special School.

Loop is an invention of the Works and Engineering Department to introduce children to recycling. Then children will be encouraged to press their parents into getting involved in the scheme.

Homes in Bermuda will also receive information regarding the days their refuse will be collected in the future. It has been changed to one day a week to help the Government keep its vehicles maintained and in good working order.

The general picture is Pembroke on Mondays, St. George's and Hamilton Parish on Tuesdays, Devonshire and Smith's on Wednesdays, Sandys and Southampton on Thursdays and Paget and Warwick on Fridays. However there are some boundary areas that may find their collections on other days.