THE launch of Torfaen's pilot 'twin bin' recycling scheme has been greeted with quiet caution by local residents.

St David's Day sees the start of the new initiative introduced by Torfaen Council to cut down on the amount of waste being sent to landfill sites. Households in Ponthir and Llanfrechfa are the first to be issued with two new wheely bins which will be collected on a weekly rotational basis and roll out over the summer months.

This week sees the collection of the green bin for kitchen food scraps and garden waste. The black bin for general household rubbish will be emptied the following week and the black recycling box will continue to be collected every week.

Cllr John Cunningham, executive member for operational services said: "We need residents to help us by recycling more. It's simple, we're just asking residents to think before throwing away their kitchen food scraps and garden waste and to continue recycling using their black box."

Local residents who spoke to The Free Press said they agreed with the measures, but still had some reservations.

Irene Green, of Hafod Road, Ponthir, said: "We don't envisage having problems with the black bin collected once a fortnight as we don't have much rubbish, but I think it could mean problems for people with large families."

Clive Davies, of Llanfrechfa, said: "Environmentally I think it is a good idea. We have been putting our kitchen waste in the bin the past week, but I dread to think what it may smell like when they open the lid to empty it."

Torfaen Council must recycle or compost at least 40 percent of household rubbish by 2010 or face financial penalties. By the end of this year every household in Torfaen will receive the service.