NEW methods of waste collection are to be introduced in an effort to hit challenging Government targets.

The trials follow a rethink about rubbish disposal in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire.

The district council has only 12 months to hit the first of the Government targets to reduce the amount sent to landfill.

Sixteen per cent of all rubbish must be recycled or composted by 2003, rising to 33 per cent by 2015.

At the moment only 8.3 per cent is recycled.

A kerbside paper collection is to begin across the district and households on three different collection rounds will take part in a year-long wheelie bin trial from September.

They will need to split household and green waste into two bins.

People in east Thirsk, who have already taken part in a successful kerbside collection trial, will be joined by those in Great Ayton and Easingwold in the scheme.

The council already runs 25 village-based mini recycling centres and another 11 in the market towns, and now it intends to add to that number.

"Putting everything in one dustbin is no longer an option," said the authority's environmental health spokes-man, Councillor Arthur Barker.

"The council currently provides a refuse collection service which relies on the use of black bags and disposal at four landfill sites, but we have relied on these sites for too long.

"Not only is space now scarce but the environmental impact of filling empty holes in the ground with all manner of waste has been recognised.

"There are far better ways of disposing of rubbish."

He said: "Although our targets seem daunting we believe that, with the support of the community, they are achievable.

"In a recent survey only five per cent of residents said they were unwilling to recycle.

"Many said they were already recycling as much as possible, and accepted that a system of sustainable waste management was the only way forward.