I WOULD like to clarify a few points raised in letters about the garden waste collections being introduced by City of York Council.

Residents can request additional kerbside recycling boxes and bags by calling the York Pride Action Line on 551551. Plastic bottles can be taken to one of six new recycling banks at B&Q on Hull Road, Tesco at Tadcaster Road and at Clifton Moor, Sainsbury's at Monks Cross and Beckfield Lane and Towthorpe Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs). There is also a bank at Foss Islands Road.

The banks are for all kinds of plastic bottles, but we ask that lids are removed and bottles are washed and squashed. The council is looking to add plastics to the kerbside recycling next year.

The small environmental cost of the one-off production and delivery of the green bins is far less than the environmental impact of dumping 100,000 tonnes of rubbish in landfill sites every year.

Our habits must change and we all need to play our part. The cost of failing to meet Government targets aimed at reducing the amount of biodegradable waste going to landfill sites equates to an average council tax increase of around £89 per household.

We would like to reassure residents that the council is not taking down the registration numbers of residents' vehicles when they visit skips at its household waste recycling centres. The council does, however, require this information from trade vehicles disposing of chargeable trade waste.

Finally, the council's household waste recycling centres do not close during the winter. The opening hours can be viewed at www.york.gov.uk/waste

Elizabeth Wray,

Waste service project officer,

City of York Council,

Blake Street, York.

Updated: 11:16 Monday, October 03, 2005