Manchester's black bins ARE set to get smaller - as the council looks to save £2.4m a year in landfill costs.

Town hall bosses plan to shrink down the size of the city’s bins by over 40 per cent - from 240 litres capacity to just 140 litres.

From August the town hall intends to start replacing household’s existing general waste bins with the smaller versions.

They hope the move will boost recycling rates across the city - but is unlikely to be met with universal acclaim from all households.

Earlier this year, the M.E.N. revealed that £1.8m of new bins were already on order, but at the time the council declined to specify what size they were or whether they would be used for general waste.

It has now confirmed that all households other than apartments are set to get the smaller black bins and larger recycling bins then provided on request free of charge.

Manchester currently has the worst recycling rate in Greater Manchester - 32.8pc, around half the rate of Trafford’s. If that continues and other local authorities continue to see their figure improve, Manchester will have to pay more and more of the region’s landfill bill.

Read more: Your grey bin could get SMALLER in town hall bid to cut waste bills

Bosses say reducing the size of general bins so people recycle more will save £2.4m. They will be particularly focused on improving food recycling rates, pointing out that if every single piece of food was recycled instead of being chucked away, it would save the city £10m a year.

Coun Nigel Murphy, the council’s executive member for neighbourhoods, said: “When recyclable waste is put into the wrong bin, money is being needlessly being thrown away.

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“Taking this action to boost Manchester’s recycling rates now will save the city almost £2.5m every year in waste disposal costs, helping to protect the vital council services that residents care about for the long-term future, while also helping the environment.

“Doing nothing is not an option and we are determined to work with residents to ensure that as much waste as possible is recycled.”

The proposals - which are to go before the council’s neighbourhood scrutiny committee next week before being passed to the executive for approval at the end of the month - would also see the new bins ‘tagged’ with a barcode so they can be more easily identified when lost or stolen.

Council chiefs intend to start the roll-out in August, focusing first on student areas so it is done in time for the new university term.

It is expected to take 13 weeks.