On the subject of waste, the new European landfill directive gives the UK no choice but to substantially reduce waste dumping.

The choice the Government faces is waste reduction, recycling or incineration. At the moment the plan is to burn around ten million tonnes of household waste in as many as 130 new incinerators, and the Government has set targets for increasing recycling by 30 per cent by 2010; it is not promising extra cash to fund decent recycling systems nor is it considering regulations to make sure there is a market for recycled materials.

We are already far behind many other European countries in recycling. The Netherlands recycles 72 per cent of its waste; Switzerland 54 per cent and Austria 48 per cent.

The main pressure for building more incinerators has come from the Treasury, which thinks that burning waste is going to be cheaper than recycling it. This takes no account of pollution and the waste of resources this would involve, plus local resistance.

P Allenby,

Kexby Avenue, York.

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