Separate food waste collections are one of the proposals put forward in a possible countywide shake-up of waste management - reflecting council trials in the Measham area.

Recycling services could also be shaken-up, and black bins might even be changed to a longer three-week collection schedule in plans being drawn up.

Currently none of Leicestershire's districts or boroughs have a food waste collection service.

But North West Leicestershire District Council is trailing this in some 4,000 households in parts of Measham and nearby villages, as well as in Coalville, Ravenstone and Whitwick.

Coalville food waste trial adds to 100 tonne collection.

The district council said: "Around one third of all waste in black bins has been identified as food waste – most of which is currently sent to landfill.

"So far on the trial we've recycled around 200 tonnes of food waste.

"That's a CO2 saving of around 150 tonnes.

"If the trials are successful, we hope to roll this service out to all residents in the district so everyone can divert more waste away from landfill and recycle more."

In addition to introducing weekly food waste collections, a report submitted to Leicestershire County Council revealed changes could also include eliminating charges for garden waste collections in areas which operate a subscription service, and separating recycling into different boxes.

This could be a three box scheme, separating paper and card in box one, glass in box two, and plastic and cans in box three.

Alternatively, paper and card would be stored in a box and plastic, glass and cans into a bin.

The report, which will be consulted on by the Leicestershire Waste Partnership, made up of the county, city and district councils, also outlines a possible change to general household rubbish collections, which could see those bins collected once every three weeks.

The council is seeking Cabinet approval at next week's meeting to launch a public consultation into waste management across the county.

The consultation would be expected to go live in January and would run for 12 weeks.