Now, even a council responsible for collecting them has got itself in a muddle.

East Suffolk Council has ordered new bins for all 120,000 homes in the district so households can put paper and card in, to prevent them getting mixed up with other recyclable materials.

A green bin being collected as part of East Suffolk Council's garden waste collection service.(Image: Archant)

But the receptacles will be grey with a green lid and officials at the authority - which is led by a coalition of Greens, Lib-Dems and Independents - are concerned people may confuse them with the green bins already used for garden waste.

An example of the grey bin with a green lid - the new paper and card bin - earmarked for East Suffolk.(Image: Suffolk Recycling)

Now, councillors have agreed to spend £350,000 on fitting a brown lid to the garden waste bins to avoid any unfortunate mix-ups.

Critics have accused the council of wasting money, saying it would have been cheaper to have simply put stickers on the bins or to have used all-grey for the new bins.

© Eastern Daily Press