West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Published: 30 January 2009
Please do your bit, carry on recycling
• THERE is much talk in the media at the moment about how many councils are having to store recycling because of the economic downturn, which has seen the price of materials such as paper, cardboard and plastic fall.
But I want to assure residents that every single last drop of recycling we collect will be recycled.
The saying “prices may go up, as well as down”, applies to recycling as much as anything else.
Thanks to the council’s robust contract with its waste provider we are able to reap the financial rewards when prices of these materials are high, but do not suffer any additional costs when prices fall.
So your recycling is as important as ever.
Not only are you helping the environment by reducing, reusing and recycling your waste, there are also strong economic arguments for doing so.
Local authorities face huge penalties if they breach strict quotas on the amount of waste sent to landfill, and those costs would have to be passed on to you, the taxpayer, through either increased bills or reduced services.
We are continuing to extend facilities, making it even easier for people to recycle, including items such as cartons, batteries and garden waste.
We are also increasing the size of our fleet with additional recycling trucks coming on stream to provide a bigger and better recycling service for both residents and businesses.
So please do continue doing your bit, and help increase Westminster’s recycling rates even further. Cllr Danny Chalkley
Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport
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