A HOUSE in my neighbourhood is undergoing some serious renovation. In front of the house is, according to my count, the third skip that they are now in the process of filling with all sorts of potentially recyclable materials.

When the skip driver comes to collect the full skip, chances are that it will be taken away to a nearby landfill site where it will be simply unloaded and bulldozed over. This skip will have probably cost the owners over £100 for drop-off, hire, collection, emptying and landfill charges.

Such disposal of its contents will have also robbed the planet of the potential for reclaiming valuable recyclable materials and submitted some of the biodegradable materials, such as timber, to anaerobic (i.e. "without air") decomposition resulting in emission of powerful greenhouse gases such as methane.

May I suggest that if possible, to anyone looking to getting rid of large quantities of unwanted materials, that they roughly separate the stuff into scrap metal, timber, soil and rubble and so on. When everything is collected they hire a builders' truck for an afternoon and transport the materials to one of the household recycling sites and deposit each category into the appropriate skips there. Some hire firms will let you hire a truck or van for perhaps as little as £30 and, as a York resident, one can deposit items at the tip for free!

Makes for economic and environmental sense!

Robin Rawson Dodsworth Avenue Heworth York