A warning has been issued to households over the amount of rubbish still being thrown away - with predictions of a waste mountain if we continue as we are.

A warning has been issued to households over the amount of rubbish still being thrown away - with predictions of a waste mountain if we continue as we are.

Figures show that the region, which has less landfill than anywhere else in the country, will run out of space to dump rubbish in the next 10 years.

Now, in a bid to meet an ambitious target of recycling or treating all waste by 2021, the East of England Regional Assembly has commissioned a study, the first of its kind in the country, to identify the total amount of waste being generated.

The East has a household recycling rate of 46pc in 2008 against a national average of 39pc but more work is needed.

Barry Coleman, Great Yarmouth Borough Council leader and chairman of the Norfolk Waste Partnership, said: “One of the most important things is waste prevention and it has been one of the major threads of the waste partnership from the start. It is good to recycle but better if you don't produce waste in the first place.”