Millions of tonnes of recycling to be stored in warehouses as price of paper and plastic collapses

Mail Online: "Town hall chiefs are to hire warehouses to store a mountain of recycled rubbish for which there is no use and no market, it was revealed today.

The build-up of recycled rubbish has come because the financial crash has brought a slump in demand for recycled raw materials from manufacturers in countries like China. Tin cans, plastic bottles, paper, card and glass carefully sorted by families and homeowners will be held indefinitely in the new refuse mountain."

The Environment Agency is expected to publish new regulations next week which will govern how metal, plastic and paper can be stored.

Some material, for example tin cans, will contain the remains of food and will be both smelly and attractive to vermin. Other material will pose a high fire risk.

Adrian Harding of the Environment Agency said: 'We recognise that these are exceptional market conditions and could have a potential impact on maintaining waste treatment capacity, achieving recycling targets and avoiding illegal disposal of waste.

'We are preparing guidance for operators on how we can best respond to these challenges to minimise the impact on the environment.'