PENDLE has been chosen as the site of a major waste treatment plant designed to deal with all the borough's rubbish.

The new waste centre will take all household waste, recycling and green waste composting from the whole of Burnley and Pendle.

The exact location for the site is to be decided by Lancashire County Council, who are working in partnership with Pendle Borough Council.

The county council has earmarked nine sites for waste treatment facilities across the county -- one of which is Pendle -- and will now apply for relevant planning permission.

Carole Taylor, Pendle Council's waste management co-ordinator, said: "The proposals for Pendle are to establish a facility within East Lancashire for the transfer of waste, handling recycled material and green waste composting. It is anticipated that it would deal with both Pendle's and Burnley's waste, which would then be transferred to a larger treatment facility located within the Blackburn/Hyndburn catchment area."

The issue is to be discussed at next week's executive committee of Pendle Council, with councillors recommended to approve the proposals.

A private finance scheme will also be set-up to build the waste centre, which will then be submitted to DEFRA.

County council bosses adopted a new strategy to manage the county's waste and hit government targets in 2001.

The management strategy for the county, A Greener Strategy for a Greener Future, will provide the blueprint for waste management in Lancashire for the next 20 years.

It sets out ambitious targets to recycle or compost 56 per cent of all its waste by 2015, as opposed to the nine per cent achieved in 1999/2000.