GREATER Manchester’s landfill sites could become full in a matter of months unless action is taken to prevent certain recyclable items being dumped, a leading waste company has warned.

The Furniture Recycling Group (TFR) has cautioned that England is “hurtling towards a serious landfill crisis”, with Greater Manchester being one of the most at risk regions.

A startling new report by the TFR Group says that household items being dumped is escalating the problem ­— and mattresses, sofas and duvets are said to be the top three offenders.

These items are reportedly taking up more than 26.2 million m3 of landfill space each year, while Greater Manchester is said to have only 13 million m3 of landfill left.

If these three items continue to be sent to landfill at the current rate, Greater Manchester’s landfill sites could be full in less than a year, the TFR Group says.

Nick Oettinger, managing director and co-founder TFR Group, said: “Our latest findings highlight the dangers of relying on our bursting landfill, and we’re edging closer and closer to a waste disaster.

“It’s clear that there’s still a lot of groundwork to be done to create our much-needed circular economy, where products are designed with recyclability in mind. This is the only way we can truly solve our recycling and waste crisis.”

Despite the warning, however, cabinet member for the environment at Bury Council, Councillor Alan Quinn, has said that the Bury borough sends “very little to landfill”.

He added: “I’d also like to point out that any fly tipping of mattresses, sofas, furniture, et cetera, is a crime.”

In order to tackle the amount of mattresses, sofas, and duvets ending up in landfill, the TFR Group is calling for a switch to a circular economy ­— where these products would be designed to be recycled at the end of their usable lives.

They also encourage people to buy these goods from "responsible retailers" who offer take-back schemes to recycle old items.

Disposal of household waste in Bury and the region is overseen by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA).

All 20 of the GMCA's recycling centres, as well as waste is treatment sites, are operated by SUEZ Recycling and Recovery UK.

A GMCA spokesman said: "Together, our aim is to recycle as much of Greater Manchester’s waste as possible, with landfill being the last resort. SUEZ work to strict targets to prevent waste going to landfill.

"Our ‘landfill diversion rate’ – the amount of Greater Manchester’s waste that doesn’t go to landfill - is currently 94%, and the vast majority of household waste that can't be recycled doesn't end up in landfill but is sent to an energy recovery facility in Runcorn where it generates green electricity for the National Grid."

Contracts for mattress recycling in Greater Manchester, however are overseen by the TFR Group.

In a bid to improve levels of mattress waste the GMCA says it is working with the TFR Group to set up a new mattress recycling facility that will be operational later this year.

It is also set to building three "reuse shops" to divert more waste, especially sofas and furniture, from landfill.

Household items brought to the household waste recycling centres will be separated for reuse, repaired and then sold in the reuse shops.