GREEN-minded Eastleigh council has pledged to recycle an ambitious 50 per cent of the borough's waste within five years.

This is the major aim of a waste management strategy masterminded by the powerful executive committee.

Its prime object is to recycle 40 per cent of collected waste by 2005/6, with this figure increasing to 50 per cent by 2010.

Currently, it is recycling more than 31 per cent of its waste.

To hit these new targets the council will be rolling out doorstep glass collection to all borough properties by March 2006 and extending textile collections and home composting.

It also plans to develop ideas for a project to test the possible

collection and treatment of kitchen waste and introduce arrangements for the collection of recyclable trade waste.

Council leader Keith House is sure that the borough's residents will rise to the new recycling challenge.

He said: "Our residents continue to be among the best recyclers in the country and we plan to put in place the best possible facil-ities to allow Eastleigh to remain top of the recycling league."

As well as its twin bin recycling scheme, the borough also operates a garden waste collection service. It has already started trialling glass collection direct from more than 20,000 homes.

But the new strategy will mean a major leap forward in recy-cling, particularly in relation to garden waste.

Councillor House said: "There is still too much of our kitchen waste such as potato and vegetable peelings being taken to landfill sites.

"We must look at ways to recycle this material, either through more extensive use of home composters or the possible introduction of a special collection service which will allow this to be composted on a commercial scale."

He added: "We will also be looking at ways to make it clearer what can and cannot be recyled, particularly with plastics where only plastic bottles can be accepted in the current scheme."