One of the biggest consultations to be held in Staffordshire in years kicks off on Tuesday and Wednesday with a big invitation to the people of Staffordshire to help shape the future of how we deal with the growing household waste mountain.

Staffordshire's councils, together with Stoke on Trent, are forging a new approach to dealing with rubbish, which aims to stop using landfill, maximise recycling and generate useful energy with what's left over.

The partners want people views on the strategy - kicking off with a media launch across the County next week.

The events will be headed up by Professor Watt - expert in rubbish - who, along with his massive inflatable light bulb, will help give the issues a voice and a face.

The problem is that every household in Staffordshire and Stoke produces about 1 tonne of waste every year - the same weight as a small car. And it's growing - 600,000 tonnes last year, rising to 700,000 tonnes by 2020.

At the moment a third is recycled, a third is landfilled and a third is turned into energy at a special facility in Stoke on Trent.

The councils want to stop landfilling because it is a waste of materials, is more polluting, and is costing the tax payer more every year, with Government fining councils that don't meet landfill reduction targets.

That's why the councils are taking action now, to protect the environment and tax payers from the growing costs of landfill. The partnership wants to follow the lead of the best in Europe, reducing landfill to virtually zero.   

Working together with householders they have pushed recycling rates up dramatically in recent years and want to hit the 50% rates achieved by top recyclers.

What's left over will be turned into energy. The Energy from Waste facility at Hanford in Stoke has been operating unobtrusively for the last decade, generating enough electricity to power 130,000 homes - that's all the homes in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Staffordshire Cabinet Member for Economic Prosperity and Sustainable Communities Councillor John Wakefield said the councils needed people to get involved.

 "Every week the newspapers are full of stories about the environmental crisis and the costs of inaction. Council tax payers don't want to pick up the bill. Now is the time to get involved and give us the power to turn Staffordshire's waste to good account.

"We can't do this without you. We need your voice. Everyone in Staffordshire is part of the problem so we all have a stake in being part of the solution," he said

There are numerous ways to find out more and get involved:

• Pick up a leaflet and questionnaire from over 450 Community Access Points across Staffordshire and Stoke on Trent - shops, libraries, doctors etc.
• Read the free County newspaper delivered to every household in Staffordshire
• Visit 90 exhibitions set up across Staffordshire.
• Go Online at www.staffswaste2020.info
• Call the Zero Waste to Landfill Info Line on 0845 300 6630
• Attend one of a series of detailed discussion groups in September.
• Respond to street interviews with the Zero Waste to Landfill team.