The kerbside recycling service in Shepton Mallet is about to undergo a major change with the Somerset Waste Partnership's new Recycle More scheme.

The aim is to get more of our waste recycled and to encouraged people to put fewer items in our general waste wheelie bins.

As part of the project, every resident will receive a new Bright Blue Bag, that will be extra to the usual green and black recycling boxes, and a food waste bin.

Somerset Waste Partnership has now shared one of these new bags with Shepton Mallet Nub News, so we can put it through its paces to make sure it is up to the job.

First impressions are certainly positive - it folds flat for storage and appears to be well made, sturdy and unlikely to break quickly through lots of use.

Of course, in reality the bag will probably not stay folded flat for long, as we all start sorting our recycling out as we go along during the week.

Another big thumbs up is the weighted bottom - even with only a few items inside, the wind would have to be very strong to blow it away.

However, it is not too heavy either and has two handles, which means it should be easy enough to carry to the roadside for most people.

It has a lid that attaches to the front with Velcro, meaning the days of plastic bottles on your drive blown from the next street will hopefully be a thing of the past.

The Bright Blue Bag is big - 60 litres in size, and I put in 23 items to check out the capacity, with a mixture of plastic bottles and trays, tins and aluminium cans and trays.

As you can see from the photos, there was still plenty of room for a lot more, plus the items could be packed in a lot more tightly.

The bag will be used to collect plastic bottles, lids, pots, tubs and trays, food and drink cans, aluminium foil and aerosols.

It will be collected every week along with the other recycling containers, while the rubbish bins will be collected every three weeks as there should be fewer items in them.

Around a third of Mendip residents will see their collection day change when the scheme goes live at the end of October, and other new items that will be collected at the roadside include food and drink cartons, small batteries and small electrical items.

Having now had the chance to see and use the extra recycling container, I think the scheme is one we should all get behind.

Once we are all in the new routine of what goes in which recycling container and remembering what day our collections are, we should see an increase in the amount of waste we are recycling, which has got to be good for the environment and therefore all of us.