The government's waste management policy is in disarray according to a committee of MPs.

The environment, food and rural affairs committee has lambasted Margaret Beckett's department for its "timid" approach to disposing of Britain's growing piles of refuse.

In a report published on Thursday, the committee claimed that her department lacks goals and "does not have a real sense of where it wants to go".

It warned that officials lack sufficient funds and expertise to address the problems.

Household waste in Britain has risen steadily in recent years, despite increasing focus on recycling and the gradual introduction of a landfill tax to encourage moves away from dumping.

Of the 28.2 million tonnes of municipal waste in England in 2000/01, only 21 per cent was recycled.

Despite a decline in the proportion of rubbish consigned to landfill sites, the total amount dumped has grown to 22.1 million tonnes in 2000/01.

The committee urged ministers to make bold moves away from using landfill sites towards recycling, re-use and waste minimisation.

"The United Kingdom produces enough waste to fill the Albert Hall every hour, and we have to change the way we deal with it," committee chairman David Curry said.

"The easy option of dumping virtually everything into landfill is closing down.

"Reducing the volume of waste and diverting waste from landfill requires a determined response from government - and that has so far been lacking."

Curry said the government needed to make "tough choices" if European targets were to be met.

"Quite apart from the environmental damage and economic wastage of the current approach to waste management the government is obliged by European legislation to change tack," he said

"Tough choices are needed. In particular we argue that the landfill tax should be uprated quickly to £35 per tonne - only at that level will it begin to have a serious effect."

The report also stresses the importance of changing attitudes towards generating waste. The amount of rubbish produced by each individual has increased by 10 per cent since 1997.

Using a wider range of economic instruments, such as graduated disposal taxes and variable household charging, may help to reverse this trend, the report concluded.