Bermuda generates more trash per capita than many industrialised nations including the US, Works Minister David Burch revealed this week.

He urged residents to cut down on the amount they generate and to recycle instead.

Government is building a new recycling plant at its quarry in Bailey?s Bay to help ease the problem.

Sen. Burch said he had recently directed a lot of attention to the waste problem which hits its peak during the summer months with increased tourists.

He said: ?It has been made very clear to me that we, as a country, generate too much trash.

?In fact, statistics show we generate more trash per capita than many industrialised nations including the United States.

?Astoundingly Bermuda is placed near the top of the trash generating countries in the world.?

The Tynes Bay waste treatment facility processed 70,000 tonnes of waste in 2005/06 and produced 20 million kilowatt hours of electricity of which 66 percent was sold to Belco.

Government hopes to add a new, third stream to cope with a projected waste growth rate of up to five percent per annum and increase revenue from energy sold to Belco.

Senator Burch said with the adoption of increased tipping fees in the next five years Tynes Bay should be able to pay for its own running costs.

But he also said Government would mount a PR exercise to encourage waste reduction and recycling.

?For the good of Bermuda we need to take heed of how our behaviour is impacting our environment.?

Sen. Burch also slammed residents who left waste to rot in the summer heat by leaving it for collection on the wrong days or in the wrong containers such as brown paper bags.

It made the task of the waste collectors that much grimmer said Sen. Burch who urged people to comply with the regulations.

Householders were also leaving out hazardous or unsuitable waste including needles, paint, broken glass, sharp objects and animal and human excrement.

?Those not complying with the regulations will be identified and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

?And this ministry will support future changes in the regulations to increase the penalties for offenders.?

However he said the embargo on wood and bulky waste, put in place at the end of June, was over now machinery had been fixed.