Ealing Council is to boost recycling by offering £80,000 as an incentive to the borough’s keenest recycling communities.

The pilot scheme, the first of its kind in the capital, will see people living in each of the borough’s 23 electoral wards competing against each other to win cash for their local area.

The ward with the highest proportion of households recycling, as well as the three with the greatest improvement in recycling rates, will be awarded £20,000 each - £80,000 in total.

Each ward in Ealing has its own £40,000 annual budget with residents being able to choose which local projects to spend the money on. The winning wards will have their budget for next year increased to £60,000.

The council will use nationally recognised Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) methodology to carry out recycling participation surveys in each ward and will assess which wards have seen the biggest increase in the proportion of households recycling by next spring.

The weight of recycling will not be measured because this could lead to residents needlessly disposing of items that could be re-used.

The scheme is designed to drive up recycling rates and reduce the cost to the council of sending waste to landfill sites.

Cabinet member for Transport and Environment, Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, said: "We're really excited about this scheme, which is the first of its kind in London. It’s crucial that we drive up recycling rates and send less waste to landfill."

"As a borough we already recycle around 40% of waste, but we need to do even more. Almost all households can now recycle most material on their doorsteps."

"The key to increasing recycling figures over the coming years will be to encourage more people to take up recycling."

Criteria for applications to the fund and deadlines for bids are expected to be announced next month.