Eastleigh Council's recycling officer wants your old baked beans can to become part of an aircraft or a new car rather than ending up in a hole in the ground.

At present three out of four beer, soft drink, food and pet food cans in Hampshire are being buried in landfill sites where they will just rot over a very long time.

But now, a new campaign has been launched in a bid to dramatically increase the recycling of food and drinks cans in the area.

Project Integra partners in the districts of Eastleigh, New Forest, Test Valley plus Winchester and Southampton city councils, are behind the push which will include initiatives such as displaying information on the rear of Solent Blue Line buses.

Eastleigh's recycling officer Martyn Cole commented: "We are quickly running out of suitable sites for landfilling waste, and, anyway - what a waste of a useful resource!

"Eastleigh has a kerbside collection of recyclables, so just separate all your cans and put them in your recycling bin for collection.

"Your old baked bean can could have a new life in an aeroplane fuselage or part of a building or a car. And by recycling you are also helping to conserve the world's coal and iron ore resources."

Mr Cole added that the iron and steel industries relied on a supply of recycled metal - amounting to about five million tonnes a year - which was cheaper than the raw materials, cheaper to process and less damaging to the environment.

Besides can banks, Mr Cole said it was easy to recycle steel and aluminium food and drinks cans in Eastleigh by simply placing them in the green wheelie bins.