Hundreds of tonnes of waste were sent to landfill sites

The popularity of recycling in Hampshire meant that the amount of rubbish collected outstripped capacity for a four-month period - leaving truckloads sent off to dumps instead of recycling.

Now chiefs at the local authority waste services partnership, Project Integra, say some rubbish will be transported out of the county to ensure it is recycled.

New measures will also be brought in to ensure that council bosses overseeing the partnership, which has a contract with French-owned waste collectors Onyx, are kept better informed.

During 2002, the combined amount of recyclable and green garden waste that was sent to landfill was about 4% of the total amount of material collected for recycling.

'No mistake'

Steve Read, of Project Integra, said: "A mistake wasn't made. Onyx flagged up that there may be a problem.

"The full circumstances of that weren't communicated early enough to enable the board to make a quick decision as to how to deal with it

"When it did come to the attention of the board, the board were able to find resources to enable material to go outside of the county for processing."

Last year, just under 220,000 tonnes of material was recycled in Hampshire.

Project Integra has achieved a recycling rate of about 21% - one of the highest in the UK and about twice the national average.

Some waste material will now be sent to Essex, London and Berkshire to ensure it is recycled.