MAJOR changes to a district's weekly refuse collection rounds could be introduced to meet national recycling targets.

Proposals being investigated by Wear Valley District Council would see 29,000 homes getting additional green wheelie bins earmarked solely for recyclable materials such as paper, cardboard and bulky plastic.

These would be collected every fortnight, alternating with the existing grey household rubbish bins, which provoked a storm of protest when they were introduced a few months ago.

The council's community services committee has asked officers to investigate the proposals after hearing that alternate weekly collections had proved successful in other areas of the country.

Buying the extra bins would cost £600,000, but there would be no extra operating costs because the same fleet of lorries and crews would collect both types of bins.

Max Coleby, acting director of community services, said: "This has been tried around the country and recycling levels of more than 30 per cent have been achieved."

With Wear Valley currently recycling only 11.5 per cent of the district's waste, the council faces the problem of meeting Government targets of 18 per cent for 2005/06 rising to 25 per cent in 2010.

Officers estimate that the current green box scheme, combined with a recently introduced garden waste collection, will miss the 18 per cent target by three per cent.

Mr Coleby said: "It has become apparent that the council's recycling strategy has to be reviewed.

"In about two years, the vehicles currently utilised on the green box scheme will be coming to the end of their life.

"At this point a decision will be necessary as to whether similar vehicles are again purchased or the authority takes a different approach to how it is to achieve the 25 per cent recycling target." The council's deputy leader, Charlie Kay, said: "I am a great supporter of recycling. We should all as morally responsible citizens recycle as much as we can."

But Willington councillor Margaret Pinkney said it would be difficult for people to recycle more rubbish than they do now. She said: "I recycle everything I can already and I still fill my normal wheelie bin. I don't see how I could do more."