A 'waste consultation document' was included in the Gazette a couple of weeks ago from Wocestershire County Council and Herefordshire Council. It was appallingly difficult to read - it seemed to be aimed at people with a waste management degree - not exactly what I would call public consultation.

The problem is that they are going to use the responses to decide how much waste is incinerated, landfilled, and recycled up until 2015. They are likely to set their plans in stone based on a flawed consultation. The document steers the reader to adopt one of seven options. However, all of the options offered rely heavily on incineration, which can be a very polluting method. Not surprisingly, incineration happens to be an easy option for the councils to subcontract.

But incinerator operators often fine councils if they don't provide enough waste to keep the incinerators running, which means councils can end up encouraging residents to produce more waste.

Recycling is more difficult for councils to implement but is of much greater environmental benefit. Currently the councils only plan a doorstep collection from some homes, and even then they don't plan to collect everything that is recyclable. I believe the council should be aiming for a full doorstep collection for all residents (including rural areas) that includes separate collection of metal, paper, glass and compostable materials.

So please let the councils know what you think about this rubbish consultation, and don't be fooled into adopting one of their flawed options.

Andy Lyon, Malvern Friends of the Earth, Assarts Road, Malvern Wells.