PLANS have been unveiled for Glasgow to lead the way in recycling and become one of Scotland's greenest cities by spending £135million on new technology.

Council waste bosses want to buy three cutting edge "autoclave" machines, which are capable of recycling 80% of the city's waste within the next five years.

If given the go-ahead by councillors, the system would be installed at three existing waste plants, firstly at Polmadie, then Dawsholm and finally Easter Queenslie.

The news comes just two days after Scottish Government figures showed Glasgow City Council had the worst record in Scotland for recycling household rubbish.

Reader Poll Should our city invest £135m in a radical green recycling plant ? Yes 77.8% No 21.6% Don't know 0.5%

But Robert Booth, the council's executive land and environment director, said today: "We believe Glasgow can be one of the greenest cities in Britain."

The new technology uses steam to sterilise and process the waste into re-usable fibre that can be sold on.

If approved, a private company would work with the council to supply and run the equipment, with the first machine due to be operational by autumn 2011.

By 2013, with all three machines up and running, they would be able to process up to 450,000 tonnes of waste every year.

As reported in the Evening Times on Tuesday, Glasgow languishes at the bottom of the recycling table, only managing to reuse 17.9% of waste.

The rest ends up in expensive, rapidly filling landfill sites.

Timesfile Glasgow's three waste handling sites currently process the rubbish from 291,000 homes and 8000 businesses - a total of 360,000 tonnes every year. Almost 82% of this ends up in landfills, leaving Glasgow way behind most other councils in Scotland. Current initiatives are likely to increase Glasgow's recycling capability to around 30% over the next five years - far short of the government's 70% target. The proposed autoclave system would allow Glasgow to surpass this target by 2013, saving taxpayers up to £25m a year in penalties and landfill taxes. This also gives the council another 12 years to work out how to reduce the city's landfill waste to just 5% by 2025.

However, the council faces penalties totalling £25m a year within four years if steps are not taken to increase recycling rates and reduce reliance on landfill.

With this plan 80% of the city's waste would be recycled by 2013 - leapfrogging Glasgow to best council for recycling.

Indeed, the system should even have spare capacity, meaning Glasgow's taxpayers could get income for processing waste for neighbouring local authorities.

The system is described by experts as a giant pressure cooker.

It pre-treats municipal waste, processing organic matter into a biomass fibre that can be sold or used to produce energy.

It also sterilises plastics, glass and metals.

The technology involves processing large batches of mixed waste - 20 tonnes at a time for 45 minutes each - in a high-pressure rotating chamber, using steam.

Clean bottles, cans and plastics are highly sellable for re-use, while the biomass fibre by-product can be sold to make fuel, breezeblocks, paper, cardboard and fuel.

According to Mr Booth, the system has a lifespan of up to 25 years and will have paid for itself within a decade.

He said the system represents good value for money, is environmentally sound and would reduce bad smells around waste plants.

Another benefit is that Polmadie's huge chimney stacks - an infamous blot on the landscape for a generation - would eventually be brought down.

He added: "After looking carefully at various options we genuinely believe this system will allow the city to meet and surpass the targets set by the government.

"It is an investment in Glasgow's future that offers tax savings and income generation."

The decision on the new system will be taken in September, but Mr Booth promised household recycling would be kept at the top of the agenda.