BIN lorries deliver a staggering 150 tonnes of household rubbish every day to Wyre Forest's landfill site at Waresley - and at least half of it is capable of being recycled.
The rubbish, collected from homes across the district, is piled into deep pits at the Biffa Waste-run site, which backs onto a brick factory on the outskirts of the village.
Every night the fresh layers of food, nappies, paper, cardboard, plastic, tins and bottles are covered over with soil and a new spot prepared for the next day's dumping.
The site is well managed and meets all environmental standards - but there is no getting away from the fact that landfill is a smelly, dirty affair, rendered all the more frustrating by the fact that so much of the rubbish need not be there in the first place.
Pam Hill is a committed recycler, who has been closely involved in organising the district's new kerbside recycling scheme.
"It is frustrating to think a lot of rubbish thrown away could be re-used. I think most people would be horrified to see how quickly this huge site is filling up. The company is already talking about opening a new site.
"Most people just do not appreciate how much rubbish is going in the ground. We are leaving a legacy for generations.
"The aim of the council's new recycling scheme is to get people to think responsibly about the rubbish they throw away. There will have to be a change in attitude."
Biffa Waste's manager at Waresley, near Hartle-bury, Russ Parrett, said he shared frustration at the amount of recyclable materials which ended up in landfill.
"The company is committed to encouraging recycling, particularly in industry. Only a quarter of the rubbish here is domestic - the rest if from industry and commerce.
"We are lobbying to increase the landfill tax - paid by companies to dump waste in the ground - to £35 a ton. It is currently about £14 a ton, which does not act as a disincentive to companies."
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