The waste is being dumped in a mini-landfill site at Bristol Zoo and a nationwide TV audience will be able to witness - through a glass frontage - how long it takes to decompose.

It is featured in the BBC1 programme, A Land Worth Loving, to be screened on Wednesday at 1900 BST.

The aim of the exhibition is to highlight the scale of waste-disposal in the UK and to encourage consumers to reduce, re-use and recycle.

Dave Naish, the zoo's education officer said: "Visitors have a chance to re-assess their own contribution to the mountain of waste that Bristol produces and be inspired to do something about it."

The BBC1 programme also features two Bristol families who try to reduce their waste by 50% in one month.