A 3D animated rat is on a mission to get the people of Southampton to recycle more.

A YouTube video is one of the city’s latest weapons to improve its recycling rates.

Featuring a loveable rodent named Herb, it encourages residents to think about what they throw away and how they can help reduce waste and save money.

Confused about which bin to put his rubbish in, Herb becomes determined to find out more.

While such a video would normally cost around £25,000 to create, Project Integra – Hampshire’s waste management partnership – secured a deal to get it made for £2,000 as part of a new animated campaign. It has been launched in time for the festive season, when traditionally amounts of household waste soar and the contamination of recyclable materials increases.

On average, residents across Southampton manage to divert 2,200 tons of rubbish from landfill every month.

With 27 per cent of the city’s waste currently recycled, civic bosses say this rate could easily be increased if everyone checked what they were putting into the recycling bin.

It is estimated that 15 per cent of the city’s recycling is contaminated with items that the council’s waste collectors cannot recycle, such as plastic carrier bags, black bags, glass bottles and food.

“In Southampton we continue to show our commitment to saving resources and reducing costs by recycling ever greater amounts of rubbish,” said Councillor Matthew Dean, Southampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport.

“However, different cities have different recycling rules and people are still unsure about what items they can and can’t include in their recycling bin. This campaign cuts through the confusion to help people understand what can be recycled and where it can be recycled in the city.

“Less contamination means higher recycling rates. Increased recycling means we have to spend less taxpayers’ money on landfill taxes and putting rubbish in the ground.”

Herb’s star turn will be emailed to students and targeted areas of the city that have high levels of recyclable contamination.