EVERY Swindon household will have to sort its refuse before collection if Liberal Democrat councillors have their way.

The group wants doorstep recycling to be extended to every household in the borough before 2010.

The scheme would involve householders being obliged to sort their rubbish into categories such as glass, metal and paper before collection.

Tomorrow Lib Dem deputy leader Wendy Johnson (Old Town and Lawn) will ask the whole council to back the move.

Coun Johnson insists that this is what the people of Swindon want, and that a pilot scheme currently under way at 7,000 homes proves it.

She said: "The Government has set environmental targets to reduce the pressure on landfill sites by 2010 and we want to meet them.

"If we don't the borough will have to pay penalties and therefore other services may suffer."

However, recycling costs money, and the Lib Dems say their plans will only be viable if the Government gives them sufficient funding.

Last year the Lib Dems pushed for and secured a £92,000 pilot recycling scheme.

For the past two years, 7,000 residents in Penhill, Greenmeadow, Old Town and some of the nearby villages have been sorting their used household cans and paper.

Issued with two special boxes, they separate the paper and cans from their other rubbish and hand it over to a hi-tech recycling van, which visits their homes every week.

The waste is then recycled instead of being dumped in landfill sites.

A similar scheme has been operating in Wootton Bassett, which is administered by North Wiltshire District Council and its own town council.

Coun Johnson said: "Of the residents in those areas, 80 per cent have been taking part in the separation of waste at their homes, and many more residents have asked when they can get involved.

"We'd also like to see the scheme developed to include plastic and glass."

But she added: "Although the Government is calling on local authorities to increase doorstep recycling to more homes before 2010, it is refusing to fund the schemes.

"In our adopted budget of 2001, we earmarked £92,000 for the 7,000 trial of doorstep collections.

"But to extend this to the remaining 70,000 households in the borough without external financial support would be very difficult."

Council leader Kevin Small (Lab, Western) and Tory group leader Mike Bawden (Old Town & Lawns) are both in favour of recycling.

But both also felt that issues such as problems in social services and education should take precedence.