Over 40 thousand tonnes of the borough’s waste was recycled in the last year, which would have cost over £3million if it had been sent to landfill.

The rubbish has been recycled into all sorts of useful products like clothing, fertiliser, and even electricity.

Ealing Council introduced a £3.8million investment package two years ago to improve refuse and recycling services and residents have made sure Ealing’s recycling rates rocketed ever since.

The borough is now recycling more than 35%, a huge improvement on past performances.

The improvements included the introduction of weekly household collections for mixed plastics and residents have recycled 2,068 tonnes over the last year, compared to 1,162 the previous year.

The collection of garden waste has also soared with residents recycling 9,025 tonnes, compared to 6,655 tonnes the year before – an increase of 49%.

In autumn the council collected more than 55 tonnes of fallen leaves to be sent for composting.

If all the recycling that has been collected over the last 12 months had gone to landfill it would have cost £3.34million, that’s £82.66 per tonne.

This week the council also launched its new flats recycling service to thousands of household that had not previously been able to recycle, and last month it introduced a food and cardboard recycling service to schools.

In the first week of the schools’ recycling service 16 tonnes of cardboard was collected.

Councillor Sue Emment, Cabinet member for Environment and Street Services, said: "It’s hard to believe that we have come so far over the last two years, and it is thanks to the efforts of residents and hard work by officers."

"Thank you for all your efforts."