to ensure that Britain meets the targets laid by the European Commission(ec), the government has promised to allocate us $19.91 million for recycling schemes over the next two years.

Environment secretary, Margaret Beckett has said taking the easy route, local councils were putting all waste in the landfill and not bothering about waste minimisation and recycling.

It is estimated that the uk generates 400 million tonnes of waste annually. Many European countries recycle 48 per cent of their waste. In the uk, recycling was supposed to have reached a level of 25 per cent last year, but even today it is only at 12 per cent.

If this trend persists, it would fail to meet the legal limits set by the ec of 25 per cent recycling for composting by 2005, 30 per cent by 2010 and 33 per cent by 2015. Environmentalists and recycling industry feel that the uk's landfill tax should be increased so that composting and recycling are promoted.