IT IS welcome news that Stroud District Council are rolling out a revised recycling service in November, which means that the disposal of food waste will be dealt with in a responsible and environmentally friendly way, to produce energy.

However, as regards some of the other types of waste, in particular plastics, there is still some confusion as to which items are acceptable. Although many are marked to show their suitability for recycling, there are packs, such as those used for pre-packed sliced meats, which have a tray and a thin flexible tear-off cover.

Presumably the latter should be removed and not recycled, yet I would guess that the majority place the whole thing in the recycling box.

The removal of such items prior to processing mixed plastics for recycling into new products is costly and time-consuming and some more detailed guidance would be helpful in avoiding this.

Many households could help by taking a little more time and trouble rinsing plastic items and ensuring that only those items which are acceptable are put out for collection.

I have seen, for example, cereal packets put out which still have the plastic bag inside.

There are still huge differences across the UK regarding which items are collected and how they are recycled.

For several years now, because of a lack of suitable energy-recovery plants in the UK, many thousands of tonnes of materials which have an energy value are baled up, wrapped in polythene and exported to Europe for clean-burn incineration/energy production.

As an example, most of Amsterdam’s power is produced from waste.

This route for recycled product is cheaper than landfill and does not require such separation of the various types of plastic and polythene.

Presumably the planned recycling plant for our area will operate in a similar way to those in Europe.

Bob Kingsland

Brownshill