15155/01KENNET District Council is likely to bring in fortnightly collections of household waste as the only way to hit the Government's targets for recycling.

The council's recycling sub-committee agreed last Thursday to recommend that a 250-litre wheelie bin is given to every household in the district for residual waste rubbish that can't be recycled but the bin should only be emptied every other week.

Environment and amenity services manager Mark Smith told the sub-committee that the district currently recycles 15 per cent of all waste, compared with the Government target of 25 per cent, which it must hit during the financial year 2005/06.

He said that, with all the current recycling measures currently in place kerbside recycling collections and neighbourhood recycling centres the council could only hope to recycle a maximum of 22 per cent of waste.

Mr Smith added: "From discussions with our colleagues from other authorities, good recyclers bring in some kind of restriction policy.

"They provide a bin of a set size and if householders can't get all their waste in there, they are invited to use the council's recycling opportunities."

Kennet officers believe the recycling figure could rise to 31 per cent by bringing in the new system.

Currently, Kennet is lagging behind other authorities with refuse collection responsibilities.

The leading recyclers in the country are Daventry and Lichfield, in the Midlands, which recycle 44 per cent of their waste by using fortnightly collections of residual waste and organic waste, and weekly collections of plastic, glass, cans, paper and textiles.

Frank Marshall, Kennet's director of community resources, said there would have to be research done to counter problems such as collections from flats and terraced houses, and difficulties faced by elderly and disabled people.

He saw no reason why Kennet could not recycle from 40 to 45 per cent of waste when the new system was bedded in.

Several councillors appealed for a publicity campaign to encourage more people to use the recycling opportunities the council has created.

From April a new system of collecting garden waste will come into force. For a fee of about £20 a year, householders could receive a wheelie bin for garden refuse which would go for composting. This will replace the current scheme of selling green plastic bags for £1 each and merely sending them with other rubbish to landfill sites.

Kennet has been able to set up this new scheme because of £165,000 funding from Wiltshire County Council. This breaks down as £140,000 for the purchase of 7,000 wheelie bins, £10,000 for publicity and £15,000 for a bin lifter to be fitted to an existing refuse collection lorry.

Mr Smith told the meeting that this would, in the end, save the county council money because, from April, it will have to pay a £250 for every tonne of waste that goes to landfill over a certain target figure.

Coun John Reid said that it was time for the council to get tough with people who did not recycle their waste.

He noted that only 55 per cent of black recycling boxes, distributed free of charge to residents, were being used and people should be fined for not using them.

Mr Marshall replied that there had to be an element of choice in recycling, but the council should make it as difficult as possible for householders not to recycle.

Jo Ripley of Devizes and Marlborough Friends of the Earth, while welcoming the increase in recycling opportunities, said she was concerned that more people would be tempted to dump their rubbish if it was not being collected weekly.

She said: "I do understand the need to encourage people to recycle but we should also be educating people to shop more carefully so that they demand less packaging in the first place."

Liddy Davidson, director of Age Concern Wiltshire, said: "On the whole, older people welcome the opportunity to recycle more but we are concerned they may not be able to manage heavy boxes.

"Kennet has told us they can arrange assisted collections. I hope the council will make it as easy as possible for people to recycle. We will have to wait and see.

"There is also the concern about waste hanging about for up to two weeks and the smells that can develop in that time, especially during the summer."