IT'S an innovative scheme that will massively reduce the need for landfill but does the future of rubbish disposal in Hampshire lie in mini waste digesters dug into people's lawns?

A pilot scheme in Fareham is aiming to prove just that with hopes that, if successful, the new units could be rolled out across Hampshire within a few years.

The digesters work much like garden composters but can also handle leftover food and other kitchen waste.

The scheme currently being tried out in Fareham uses two different types of digester, Green Cones and Green Johannas, but both take cooked and uncooked kitchen waste, including meat, bones and dairy products.

Bacteria Worms and bacteria are then used to break down the waste, contained in rodent-safe containers, into harmless by-products.

In the cones this ends up as water, which drains into the soil from the bottom of the cone, and carbon dioxide.

In the Johannas, thought to have been named after the Swedish inventor's wife, who was a keen gardener, all that is left at the end is high quality compost which can be dug back into the garden.

Rubbish experts say that with more and more people recycling plastic goods, glass and metals, kitchen waste is now one of the biggest contributors to landfill sites and anything that reduces it will help the environment.

One of those trying out the cones is 40-year-old Ursula Jones, of Southampton Road in Fareham, who has had her cone since the end of November.

She said: "They work brilliantly and I like the concept.

"They are very easy to use - you just tip your waste into them and close the lid. Provided you have the space in your garden and the will to do it, they make a massive difference. All we have to bin these days is non-recyclable packaging."

Her eldest son, Joshua, 8, who has taken the lead over filling the cone, added: "Everyone should have one because it is better for the environment."

Across the road Ursula's neighbour Anita Taylor, 40, and her three children are also involved in the scheme but are trialling the Johannas.

Anita said: "They should definitely be rolled out across Fareham and Hampshire because anything that makes a difference to the environment, even a small one, has got to be worth it."

Innovative Fareham councillor Brian Bayford said: "This innovative idea could really help reduce Hampshire's need for landfill and we will be watching this trial very closely with a view to expanding it to other Fareham residents if, as we hope, it proves successful."

A spokesman for Friends of the Earth in Southampton said: "The less waste that needs to be buried or burned, the better it will be for the environment, so these schemes show a lot of promise."

The trial scheme in 25 households runs until December 2007.