While Monmouthshire is one of the most successful counties in Wales for recycling, the local authority feels that more needs to be done in order to reach its minimum target of having 70 per cent of household waste recycled by 2025.

To this end Monmouthshire County Council is already utilising its limit on rubbish bags. It is also undertaking a new holistic review to work out the best way to achieve the targets put in place.

The most recent recycling figures show that Monmouthshire is performing above the national average, with an increase of 4 per cent of waste being recycled in comparison to the whole of Wales.

In the table showing municipal waste preparation for reuse, recycling and composting, Monmouthshire has one of the highest rates with 56 per cent, as opposed to 52 per cent across the whole of Wales.

This is in addition to the overall drop in municipal waste, which has fallen by 5 per cent, as part of the current waste strategy to lower the amount of general waste produced and to encourage recycling.

An MCC spokesman said, "The residents of Monmouthshire are key to us achieving this rate. They have historically been very engaged with the principles of recycling and improving the environment that we live in,"

But with the need to boost these figures by 14 per cent within the next twelve years, MCC plans to engage further with residents to work out the best way of hitting the targets ahead of time.

"It is recognised that the move to 70 per cent will be the most challenging target to meet and, for this reason, we are looking to do a number of things."

The recent introduction of a limit on the number of bags of general waste that households can put out aims to encourage increased use of the recycling services.

The council also plans to work with residents and to look at the emergence of new technologies.

The MCC spokesman said, "The idea of the review is to take a step back and look at our services in terms of what works and what does not, and so look at what can be achieved.

"Over the next few months we will be engaging with residents to see how we can help them reduce, reuse and recycle their waste, and we will look at best and innovative practice put in place elsewhere in order to really understand what we can do to achieve the targets."

Further details of the plan are expected from the council over the coming month, with the hope of taking action by 2014.