CHESHIRE politicians have moved a step closer to agreeing on how to dispose of the county’s waste for the next 25 years.

Authorities are working together to agree a long-term plan.

It is aimed at reducing the 190,000 tonnes of rubbish sent to landfill last year.

Steve Kent, community and environment director for Cheshire West and Chester Council, said: “Even if we achieve our ambitious future recycling targets, we would still expect to be sending 155,000 tonnes to landfill annually.

“Declining landfill space and increasing costs – an average of £800,000 each year– means doing nothing is definitely not an option, certainly not one which will be appreciated by future generations.”

Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East Councils agreed “an affordability ceiling” of £847m for the joint Waste Disposal Contract Public Finance Initiative over the next 25 years. The figure relies on over £100m of PFI credit support from the Government.

The cost agreement was the penultimate stage of a long process designed to select a preferred company and method to deal with the county’s household waste.