SIR,

Where I was born and brought up, the county council collects recyclable refuse, such as paper, card, metal, glass, plastic, garden waste, etc – the things we in Monmouth put into green, purple or red bags – with no additional cost to the tax payer. There is also a collection of extra-large items once every two months, as well as of good second-hand clothes, books and rags.

With regard to general refuse, all the county's shops sell strong plastic bags, not see-through, in rolls of ten or twenty, for a fixed price, and clearly labelled (printed on) with the county or town's name.

Inhabitants are then free to buy and use as many of these bags as they wish, but as they are not particularly cheap, people generally make very good use of them indeed by filling them to the brim with items that really can't be recycled. Costs per bag may vary from one town or county to another, and councils will only pick up bags which are geographically correct and properly labelled.

Neighbours keep a keen look-out for newcomers to know what to do, and rubbish left around is considered highly antisocial and much frowned upon by natives of all age groups.

This way, refuse collection is fair and works wonderfully well, and people can be flexible about the amount of non-recyclable refuse they want taken away every fortnight.

EVH Williams

(Monmouth)