I WAS interested to see so much about waste and recycling in a recent copy of the Gazette. It is encouraging to see that some efforts are being made, but I wonder whether it will include plastic re-cycling facilities which we can actually get at.

There are six of us in my family and we recycle everything we can. It is my smug boast that we only use one plastic bin liner a week.

All biodegradable waste goes into the compost bin (or into the hamster). Bottles, tins, paper are recycled - it takes an effort. Old clothes go to friends, old shoes and anything with life left in it goes to Oxfam.

So what fills the one bin liner? It is nearly all plastic packaging and bottles. We cannot afford to get all our milk through the milkman, so there are a goodly number of six-pinta plastic bottles in the bin and much of the rest is the plastic packaging that comes with so much we now buy. If this could be recycled it would make an enormous difference to the amount of waste we produce.

There is a very long way to go before we emulate the continent, in Germany and Switzerland waste is separated at home and then collected by the dustmen.

So, please keep up the good work! Recycling is so hard at the moment that it puts off all but the very dedicated, I fear.

Christine Shepherd, St Andrews Road, Malvern.