M GREEN’S letter of October 6 relating to the waste collected in wheelie bins (‘Let’s go back to having one bin’) is sadly out of touch with rapidly changing government and European legislation on waste management.

New technologies have made the world of waste collection highly efficient and effective and much of what people throw away can now be re-used in many different ways.

However, sorting and separating materials is time-consuming and expensive and it is more cost effective to do that at the point of collection. That there is no uniformity across the UK in waste and recyclate collection says how fast the industry is evolving.

In Poole, decisions are based on the best value for money for residents, the best for the environment and what is acceptable to most people. All waste that the local authority has a statutory obligation to collect is included in the council tax.

The only charge made is for the optional kerbside collection of green waste, which, since its introduction, has led to a significant reduction in the amount of green waste sent to landfill. The government landfill tax has now risen to £72 per tonne and continues to rise.

If all household waste was combined and sent to landfill, Poole’s taxpayers would be literally throwing money away. We would urge residents to continue to recycle as much waste as they can which, in the long term not only saves us money, but genuinely helps.

CLLR XENA DION, Cabinet portfolio holder for Environment, Transportation and Local Economy, Borough of Poole