The authority is offering a weekly trade collection service to pubs, restaurants and similar licensed premises from Monday, December 8.

It will be available to businesses along the A149 route from Lynn to Old Hunstanton to begin with, but if successful council bosses hope to expand it across the borough.

At present local businesses send nearly 4,000 tonnes of waste to landfill sites every year – the equivalent of 286 double-decker buses. The glass recycling scheme is set to reduce this amount by 2.5 per cent, and will also cut down the demand for the quarrying of sand needed for glass production.

For around £7 a week, businesses will be supplied with a grey 770-litre bin which they can use to dispose of any glass bottles and jars but not plates, dishes or light bulbs as these cannot be recycled in the same way. The glass will then be collected every week throughout the year.

Councillor Brian Long, the council’s cabinet member for environment, said: “The introduction of a trade glass collection service is something that we, as a council, have been striving to offer local businesses for a long time so I’m very pleased to be involved with its launch.

“Should business uptake be high on the current route, we hope to be able to expand the service in future to other pubs, restaurants and licensed premises within the borough.”

Once collected by the council, the glass will be sent to a firm in Nottingham where it will be sorted before being sold on to glass bottle manufacturers where it will be recycled into new glass bottles.

Businesses wanting more information or to request a glass recycling bin should contact Irene Auker at the council’s Recycling and Waste Management Unit on 01553 616760.