Rubbish from Halifax could be ferried through Bradford in a bid to meet tough new waste laws.

The Government plans to reduce the amount of rubbish being dumped at landfill by forcing local authorities to recycle more.

And Calderdale Council believes it could be cheaper to team up with Bradford Council and deal with both authorities' waste at the same time.

Under the plans, Calderdale bin lorries, currently dumping at landfill sites in Oldham and Burnley, would tip at Bradford's existing waste transfer centres in either Bowling Back Lane or Royd Ings in Keighley.

All waste would then be handed to a contractor with the job of recycling as much as possible.

By sharing the cost of the changes, Bradford and Calderdale believe they could save millions.

The price of Bradford's recycling bill alone has been estimated at £400 million over 25 years and bosses are about to begin the Europe-wide search for a company to handle the contract.

But Calderdale has to decide quickly if it wants to get involved, because Bradford wants the contract signed by 2008. Members of Calderdale Council's cabinet are expected to meet tomorrow to decide whether to begin formal talks with Bradford.

However Councillor Anne Hawkesworth (Con, Ilkley), Bradford Council's executive member for the environment, admitted "exploratory talks" with Calderdale are under way.

She added: "We are at the embryonic stage of what we in Bradford are going to do and, if we go with a joint tender, there may be some economies of scale for both councils. The idea is to see if we can get a better result for residents of Bradford and Calderdale."

Bidding companies are expected to suggest the mechanical sorting of waste, heat treatment or chemical treatment as solutions to the district's waste problem, but other new technologies have not been ruled out.

Bradford Council's ruling executive is opposed to incinerating waste but, as reported in the Telegraph & Argus in September, it has been asked to reconsider its position by a committee of other councillors. It is expected to do so later this year.

Bradford Council's director of environmental services, Richard Wixey, is overseeing the project and said that if the two authorities do team up, the location of such a plant could be in either Bradford or Calderdale.

He said: "We have two waste transfer stations in Bowling Back Lane and Royd Ings and they would be made available to the contractor.

"But the chosen technology might mean those sites are either suitable or they are not - and so the contractor may have their own site in mind."