COUNCIL boss Chris Oliver said he regretted having to shelve a plan to encourage people to recycle plastic waste because it would have cost too much.

Wycombe District Council wanted ten of its 50 recycling sites in the district to have special banks in which people could leave plastic.

It set aside £22,000 a year for it and asked firms tendering for the district rubbish collection service, to include collection of plastic in their bids.

But when tenders came in they were all about four times over the estimate.

Very few councils have such a scheme as recycling plastic is expensive because it is so bulky and so light.

Chris Oliver, chairman of the council's planning, environment and transportation committee, said it was a pity, but there was not enough money.

The Government sets councils recycling targets and in Wycombe the amount of household rubbish recycled must go up from 11 per cent to 20 per cent by 2003/04. It also has targets to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill sites.

Garden waste, which can be made into compost, and paper, which can be recycled, accounts for more than half of what goes into bins, so dealing with them are key issues for the council.

While plastic is only about ten per cent and is at the bottom end of the recycling priority list.