Staffordshire residents will get "rubbish TV" as recycling centres install live cameras

People will be able to see whether the recycling facilities, which often are still referred to as "the tip", are busy so they can stagger their journeys and reduce queueing at peak times.

Staffordshire County Council now directly controls the 14 sites after ending a contract with FCC Environment to get better value for taxpayers.

Simon Tagg, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for environment, infrastructure and climate change, said: "This is a large, complex operation which only closes three days a year and I am delighted by the smoothness of the return in-house.

"This will ensure we maintain the best service for residents and it also allows us to be sustainable and innovative at the same time.

"Improvements such as the installation of cameras that residents can view on their phone or on their laptop are all part of the process to encourage recycling."

A report to be considered by the County Council’s Cabinet next week will hear that there are almost 1.6 million visits per year to the HWRCs, with 42 different types of material accepted and an average recycling rate of 71 per cent over five years.

Since returning the service to county council control, the number of lorries removing recycling from sites has increased from four to seven – allowing more material to be accepted at individual HWRCs.

Simon Tagg added: "Later this year we will be detailing investment for a significant improvement and maintenance plan for the years ahead.

"We want to make the HWRCs sustainable for the future, encourage greater use now and able to deal with future demand from a growing population."

Cannock resident Carl Edwards said: "This gives new meaning to saying its all rubbish on TV, I've got a job but if I did not and had loads of times on my hands I might watch live coverage of the local tip, I could see what my neighbours are throwing out."