FOR many households recycling has become a way of life while for others it is simply a load of rubbish.

But Newport council says it is the tax payer who could end up picking up the bill if it does not meet strict targets for reducing the amount of waste going into the city's landfill site.

Earlier this year the council introduced a pilot scheme where 9,000 households in the city are having their bins collected once a fortnight.

The scheme has proved controversial with many homeowners, particularly those with larger households saying they simply cannot cope with the reduced collections. The council says it is vital to force people to recycle more of their rubbish.

Gareth Jones, 23, lives in Graig Park Circle in Malpas with his fiance, Jenny Slater, 22, and her parents are also staying at the home.

Mr Jones has set up a petition calling for the council to restore weekly bin collections.

He says that despite his family's efforts to recycle more they cannot cope with the reduced collections.

He said: "Our bins are full and our recycling box is full. I don't know what more we can do. I recycle what I can, but we just do not seem to be able to cope. In just a few days the bins are full and we are recycling all we can.

"My argument is that if I am paying the same council tax, then I should be getting the same amount of service as other people in the city.

"I have about 400 names on the petition and that shows how strongly people feel about this.

"Our bin is practically full in just four days."

The council says up to 85 percent of the contents in a typical rubbish bin can be recycled or composted.

Councillor Ed Townsend is also part of the pilot scheme on St Julians Road, where he lives with his wife Carmel.

With six children living in the house the family have long been keen recyclers.

The ward member for St Julians is critical of what he claims was a lack of consultation over the new bin scheme but welcomed moves to get people recycling more.

He said: "We have always recycled everything we can but are still finding it hard going.

"At home we have a wormery and two composters working pretty much full time, but they always were.

"The best thing is that it has improved the Wastesavers collections, but there needs to be more done and it is not just the public who are the bad guys in all of this.

"We need to look at all the packaging that goes on everything, for example bananas wrapped in plastic in supermarkets.

"And using a gallon of fuel to get in our cars and drive across Newport just to recycle some cardboard seems to be defeating the object.