West Sussex County Council has admitted it failed to reach its target of cutting its paper mountain by 50 per cent.
The council said in 1997 it would halve the amount of paper it generated by 2001.
But leader Councillor Harold Hall yesterday admitted only a 15 per cent cut had been achieved.
The figure was made public in a series of answers to questions from Lib Dem leader Councillor Nick Rodgers, who represents the Durrington ward of Worthing.
Coun Hall said the original target, set before he became leader, was "hugely ambitious" but the 15 per cent cut was still the equivalent of three million sheets of paper weighing 15 tonnes.
Councillor Rodgers said: "I think it shows the council has failed miserably to keep to a pledge which was one of the so-called milestones in the 1997 county strategy."
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