RUBBISH collections in North Wiltshire could be cut back as the district council takes drastic action to meet recycling targets.

North Wiltshire District Council is facing a fine from the Government if it fails to meet its recycling target set by Whitehall. It is supposed to recycle 20 per cent of its waste by 2004 but at present it only recycles 7.9 per cent.

Now councillors are looking at ways to meet the target.

At present the council has a black bag or dustbin collection service, putting no limit on the amount of household waste, and collects garden waste. It also collects bulk refuse, such as old fridges and sofas, free and gives black bags to pensioners. All these services are to be reviewed.

Compostable materials, tins, glass, paper and even disposable nappies will come under consideration as the district council works out a strategy to deal the amount of waste buried in landfill sites such as the one at Compton Bassett.

A recent People's Voice survey showed that district residents are overwhelmingly in favour of keeping things as they are. But Coun Lesley Bennett, the council's lead member for the environment, thinks the service is so good it doesn't encourage people to recycle.

"We have a gold-plated service at the moment, it's too good and people are not taking advantage of the recycling facilities we have," said Coun Bennett.

"It is a difficult problem. We'll have to use both the carrot and the stick. We'll be working with partners such as the WI and Agenda 21. No-one likes landfill and the way to tackle it is to look at your own habits."

The district council is already supporting home composting schemes. Kerbside recycling collections are also under consideration.

She said she would also like to see a cut-back in bulk pick-ups, with the public making greater use of recycling centres such as Stanton St Quintin, near Chippenham.

In a report presented to councillors last month council officers agreed the low recycling level in general, could be due to the effective service provided.

"It gives no encouragement to the householder to deal with their waste in a more sustainable way when it will be collected free of charge each week from outside their property," said the report.

It added that the cash-strapped council faced the option of increasing its refuse service to meet an expanding population, or meet its recycling agenda head-on.

Councillor Bennett is confident she has a plan to meet the council's recycling target. "We want to adopt a policy of reuse, reduce and recycle," she said.

"People don't appreciate how many things can be recycled. If you have unwanted furniture or even a fridge, take it to Stanton St Quintin, it can be recycled there."