PLANS for a £14.5million recycling centre capable of processing 70,000 tonnes of waste a year have been unveiled by Borough of Poole.

Initial proposals for a Materials Recycling Facility, or MRF, at Hatch Pond depot, Hatch Pond Road, go before councillors next week.

The new facility would be able to mechanically sort all the waste brought in by kerbside collections in Poole - paper, plastic, cardboard, tin cans and glass, making it the first in Dorset, and one of just a handful in the country, to be able to do so.

The aim is for the centre to handle all Poole and Bournemouth's recycling - some 35 tonnes a year. Both boroughs currently send their waste by lorry to Kent to be processed.

But if it were to stay open longer - 16 hours a day - the figure could be doubled, enabling the council to take in waste from other parts of the county.

Shaun Robson, head of environmental and consumer protection services, said: "The council needs to safeguard the future of its successful blue bin scheme."

He added recycling in Poole had more than doubled since the introduction of the scheme in September 2004. The council had to meet government targets to cut waste by 65 per cent on 1995 levels by 2020.

Plans for the MRF have yet to be worked up in detail but it is expected to include a waste transfer station to replace that at the nearby Nuffield Industrial Estate, and a visitor centre.

Construction could start by October 2009.