A MASSIVE drive to get more people recycling is under way -- with 100,000 free compost bins being made available.

Lancashire County Council, along with Blackburn with Darwen Council and the county's 12 district councils, is distributing the bins in a bid to reduce the amount of rubbish being buried in landfill sites every year.

Last month, the Lancashire Municipal Waste Strategy was adopted by all the councils in Lancashire.

At the heart of the plan is the recycling of 40 per cent of the 785,000 tonnes of rubbish Lancashire produces by 2005.

The councils say this can be achieved through better education, more recycling facilities and revamped waste centres, or tips.

But it also warns that, one day, dumping rubbish in the ground will have to be replaced with another system of disposing un-recycled rubbish. Building trash-burning incinerators which also produce energy is the favoured option, despite vociferous opposition from Green groups. They claims toxins produced by the incinerators are dangerous to the health of people living near by.

Councillors claim the best way of avoiding incinerators is for people to go green with immediate effect -- starting with composting all biodegradable waste, like leftover food and garden waste.

The mulch it produces can be spread on the garden and helps plants to grow.

County Councillor Brian Johnson, Lancashire's cabinet member for community and regeneration issues, said: "It is good to see that Lancashire are leading the way in the UK in offering people the chance to compost their green and kitchen waste free of charge. This scheme supports the aims of A Greener Strategy for a Greener Future by encouraging people to see what they can do and helping them to take practical steps to reduce their waste."

District councils are also being offered more cash for waste that is collected for recycling, such as cardboard and paper.

Lancashire County Council has nearly doubled the amount each council receives per tonne of recyclable waste to £42.

Coun Johnson added: "I hope this encourages more councils to do separate recycling collections. Our aim is that, by 2005, 90 per cent of home will have kerbside recycling collections."

Boroughs like Burnley and Blackburn with Darwen already carry out regular door to door collections.

The compost bins are made in Lancashire from 100 per cent recycled plastic and are being distributed along with a kitchen scrap bin for collecting fruit and vegetable peelings.

A spokesman said the idea is to show people that a lot of the rubbish that goes into their bin, around 50 per cent in Lancashire, could in fact be used to produce useful compost for the garden.

At the moment, selected areas have been chosen as part of a monitoring scheme.

Coun Ashley Whalley, executive member for regeneration at Blackburn with Darwen Council said: "The council has a good record of promoting and supporting recycling schemes.

"These free bins will enable householders to turn rubbish into something useful that can be used in the garden -- the ultimate form of recycling.

"And by making compost at home, people can save money on expensive garden products as well as improving the soil for growing plants."