WASTE disposal units could be fitted in kitchens throughout Worcestershire in a bid to reduce rubbish and stop £15m penalties being levied against the county.

Space at landfill rubbish dumps is rapidly running out and Worcestershire faces having to buy capacity from other counties at £150 per tonne by 2010.

Now, a group of county councillors has recommended that tests are carried out to see whether waste disposal kit could help solve the problems.

"They've been around for a long time. People in flats have them and it is a system used very much in Sweden because they are great ones for waste," said Coun Peter Fallows, chairman of the council's environment scrutiny panel.

The councillors also said officers at County Hall should enter "urgent negotiations" to improve the quality of household waste collection centres.

They were unimpressed with the quality of service and said they were unsure how Mercia Waste Management, which runs the sites, would tackle the problems.

Cabinet member Alwyn Davies, responsible for environment and sustainability, yesterday backed the scrutiny panel's suggestion that tests on the waste disposal equipment should be held in homes throughout Redditch.

Severn Trent Water said it will assist with the trial but was unlikely to support installations on a large scale.

"The concerns are that chopped up bits of food could cause blockages and odours and create a heavier load at the sewerage works," said spokeswoman Caroline Hosie.

Coun Davies added that talks were also being held with Mercia Waste about altering the contract in a bid to "achieve a higher minimum level of recycling" at the waste and recycling sites.

The council is aiming to reduce rubbish and boost recycling. In 2003/04 just 19 per cent of the 417,000 tonnes of waste produced in Herefordshire and Worcestershire was recycled.

The target this year is 30 per cent, rising to a third in 2014.

WHAT IS A WASTE DISPOSAL UNIT?

Technically called "macerators", the small pieces of equipment fit beneath sinks and send soaked, unwanted food into the sewage system.

A one-person trial found that it saved the equivalent of 110lbs of food per person per year from being dumped in bins.

The county council estimates the units cost between £100-£400 although they can be bought from hardware stores for about £90. No thought has yet been given about whether the council or homes would purchase the kit.

Earlier this month, research by the BBC found that households throw away about a third of all food.