A government consultation document last year proposed increasing the level of recycling and composting of household waste from 27 percent today to 40 percent by 2010 and 50 percent by 2020.

Britain is near the bottom of Europe's recycling league, with only Greece and Portugal recycling less, according to figures from the Institute for Public Policy Research and the Green Alliance.

Campaigners want the government to introduce a rising level of charges for rubbish collections to encourage householders to recycle more.

Last year's consultation found strong support among the public for some form of variable charging, but there was also concern that extra costs could lead to a rise in fly-tipping.

Friends of the Earth said the recycling targets should be set as high as 75 percent of all household waste by 2015.

It said Flanders in northern Belgium was already recycling 71 percent. The environmental group said there should also be legally binding recycling targets for businesses.

It said government proposals in the consultation to build more incinerators to burn waste instead of burying it would be a backward move.