Plastic is becoming too expensive to recycle, councils across Britain will warn on Saturday, raising fears that homeowners' efforts to sort through their waste may be futile.

The warning by the Local Government Association (LGA) comes as The Telegraph reveals mountains of plastic waste are sitting on an abandoned airfield because the local council cannot afford to send it to be recycled.

The LGA, which represents more than 400 councils across Britain, is demanding that manufacturers contribute more towards the increasing cost of recycling.

Otherwise, they say, local authorities will no longer be able to afford to keep processing it.

Plastic recycling waste has been building up in the UK since China introduced importing restrictions last year, with the situation now so bad that councils have started cutting plastic recycling services.

This newspaper on Friday reported that Swindon Borough council became the first to say it wants households to put mixed plastic items, such as yogurt pots and plastic trays, in the bin with regular waste.