ALL bottle bank recycling facilities in Blaenau Gwent are to be removed by the end of the month.

The council says because of the success of the kerbside recycling scheme the demand for the use of the recycling bring banks has dramatically reduced.

Residents of Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council have been able to put recyclable materials in the recycling bags provided and have them collected weekly for the past four years. This has led to a reduction in weight of materials disposed of through the county wide network of bring banks.

A Blaenau Gwent council spokeswoman said: "The reduced usage of bring sites and cost pressures have led us to having to restructure our bring site facilities. We will be removing some lower performing material streams from our bring sites."

The amount of glass collected from the banks in Blaenau Gwent has fallen from around 63 tonnes in 2008 to less than 35 tonnes in 2012.

The council owned bottle banks were emptied under contract by Viridor Waste Management Ltd. Despite negotiations held between both parties in recent months to try and establish an alternative solution to the removal of the banks, including reduced numbers of bottle banks and decreased collection frequencies, they were unable to provide a sustainable and economic solution.

The spokeswoman added: "As such, Viridor Waste Management Ltd have terminated the agreement by mutual consent and the bottle banks will be removed from all bring sites across Blaenau Gwent by the end of November 2013."

Removal of the glass bottle banks will go towards the cost savings Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council need to make over the next three years.

A list of remaining bring sites and bring banks can be found on the council website or by phoning the contact centre on 01495 311556.