PLANS to improve waste management and build waste treatment plants in the region have been given a helping hand.

Cheshire County Council will use the £40million Private Finance Initiative credits, awarded by the Government, to attempt to more than double recycling rates and reduce the amount of household waste deposited in landfill sites.

Cheshire residents recycled a third of their waste last year but now the council wants to cut the waste level from 74 per cent to 17 per cent and raise recycling rates to 54 per cent by 2020.

Cty Clr Andrew Needham, executive member for environment, said: "This represents an important milestone in achieving Cheshire's Household Waste Strategy and thereby developing a more sustainable approach to managing household waste."

Announcing the £40million credits - which will see a new waste management infrastructure created - environment minister Ben Bradshaw said: "Cheshire's scheme is ambitious with targets well above requirements. I am pleased to see such commitment towards reducing our outdated reliance on landfill."

The project aims to deliver recycling from kerbside collections and household waste recycling centres. Remaining waste will be turned into refuse derived fuel following mechanical separation and biological treatment.

Cheshire residents produced 434,000 tonnes of waste last year, which is equivalent to 1.5 tonnes per household.