I'M glad to see that Coun Waller agrees with us that the greenest and most cost-effective way to deal with waste is "re-use, reduce, re-cycle" (Letters, February 8).

To set the record straight, last May I voted in support of the opposition view that introducing alternate weekly collection should have been piloted before rolling out to most of the city.

At the same meeting I successfully pushed for plastics and card kerbside collection to be investigated, with a report to come back to members before the green bin system started.

In October, I proposed a number of measures to ease the transition to the fortnightly collection (not to "reverse its waste minimisation policies" as Coun Waller put it). My proposals were rejected by the Lib Dems, with the results we are all familiar with from your coverage at the time.

Far from blocking the council from improving recycling, our actions have been motivated by a wish to boost public support for waste minimisation and recycling by making it easier for people to do it.

Our opposition to incineration ("energy from waste") is because we do not want to "sleep walk" into a potentially damaging long-term contract without the public even realising what is being foisted on them.

I welcome Coun Waller's commitment to other less harmful technologies such as mechanical biological treatment and to further public engagement.

We also welcome the many contributions to the debate on the issue in the Evening Press generated by our concerns. We look forward to further open public discussion this year of the long term options for waste in York and North Yorkshire.

Coun Andy D'Agorne,

Green Party,

City of York Council,

Broadway West, York.

Updated: 11:03 Tuesday, February 14, 2006