Latest figures from Sustainability Victoria show the recovery of recyclable items from kerbside collection in the shire was slightly better in 2007-8, at 29 per cent, than the previous year (28.5 per cent).

But Gippsland Regional Waste Management Group executive officer Matthew Peake said initiatives introduced by Wellington Shire Council in the past 12 months should encourage an even greater increase in recycling.

Changes include a new contract that would see green waste separated from compost, rather than being used as cover material at land fill, and the recycling and re-use of thousands of tonnes of steel and concrete.

With the opening of a new resource recovery centre at the Kilmany landfill, Mr Peake said the capacity for further recycling improvement was vast.

The new centre will significantly increase the amount of material separated from the waste stream for recycling, and expand plastics recycling to include all plastic codes 1-7.

"Wellington Shire Council should be congratulated on introducing these initiatives in the past 12 months,'' he said.

Mr Peake encouraged shire residents to back the new initiatives by stepping up their own recycling measures.

For more, read Friday's Gippsland Times.