LAST week we published a letter from a reader querying if there were any schemes in operation regarding the collection of plastic bottle tops.

We have since contacted the district council's environmental offices and this is its response -

'1) Bottle tops are often made of a completely different polymer from the body of the bottle and so this is the reason we cannot collect them in our scheme - we only collect plastic type 1,2 and 3

2) Bottles and cans are sorted manually at the material reclamation facility - it would be impossible for sorters to identify every polymer type of each bottle top

3) Bottle tops often have plastic/rubber or metal seals inside them and I am informed there are only two reprocessors in the country that can deal with such a 'mix' of materials - If these reprocessor were local this would not be such an issue but transportation of the materials over hundreds of miles simply does not make sound environmental or economic sense.

I have heard about groups collecting bottle tops for charities but these were from years ago and I am not aware of any currently. The charities got less and less for the bottle tops as so much of their collection was discounted through contamination and charities can earn far more money through collecting cans/textiles nowadays.

Anna Wardell

Environmental Strategy Officer

Street Scene & Waste Management

Bromsgrove District Council