TORFAEN cabinet members are set to discuss a joint project with Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly to tackle waste management.

A report which will go before tomorrow’s cabinet meeting details the latest Assembly targets, for recycling and the strategy through which the council hopes to achieve them.

Since 2006 Torfaen council has been working with counterparts at Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly councils, to develop a centre to treat organic waste in the boroughs.

The report identifies three sites which could be used for the food and green waste treatment facility - Waun y Pound in Ebbw Vale, land at Silent Valley Landfill in Cwm and land at Heads of the Valley, with Silent Valley highlighted as the most suitable site.

It would deal with 17 per cent of the total waste for the three areas by 2020, including 22,000 tonnes of food waste and 15,000 tonnes of green waste a year.

The report states anaerobic digestion (breaking down waster in an airless environment) and windrow (piling organic matter to rot down in the open air) were the two most viable options for the waste management strategy.

Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly and Torfaen councils will enter into a joint working agreement for the project and form a committee to take decisions as plans are formed.

Once plans are complete companies will bid for a contract to run the centre, which is expected to begin operating in 2013.

The project aims to meet targets to treat more waste sent to landfill set by the National Waste Strategy and European Union’s Landfill Directive.

The report recommends cabinet members approve the preferred strategic approach to achieve the 70 per cent recycling target and approve the commencement of a joint procurement exercise with Blaenau Gwent and Caerphilly.