I CONSIDER the present efforts to recycle are a complete waste of time and money.

Large amounts of worthless newsprint are being collected and, instead of being thrown into a hole in the ground, are transported to China. This uses tons of fuel and produces vast clouds of carbon dioxide. Not content with this, the same is being done with glass bottles, with the same result.

There are so many different types of plastic that it would need an army of experts to sort them into their correct types, so that is another dead dog. The only things that are worth recycling are metals and we have had scrapyards for donkey's years. Additionally, City of York Council is stuck with a system that will prove to be far more expensive than the previous one and we will have to pay for it.

Why has this all happened? It has happened because the Government has chosen to believe one of the theories about the effect that humankind is having on the world. It is not the only theory on the subject, but it is the one it has chosen. Now it is trying to brainwash the public into accepting it with threats and fines. The Government's efforts would be far better employed trying to lower the birth rate of the world rather than messing about with rubbish.

Jeremy D Fox,

Malton Avenue,

York.

Updated: 10:18 Friday, November 18, 2005