Abitibi-Consolidated Recycling Europe, which reprocesses used paper presented the council with a certificate.

Five North East authorities, with a network of 200 paper banks, also helped to reclaim newspapers and magazines.

As well as North Tyneside, these are Darlington, Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

North Tyneside recycling officer, Kevin Evans, said: "Research shows that the more convenient it is to recycle, the greater the likelihood of reaching government targets."