The Commercial Services Department writes in response to some of the recent letters concerning green recycling containers.

If the council does not hit statutory targets for 2005/6, it will be liable for penalties which could exceed more than £1 million for 2005/6 alone.

There should be no reason why any householder will not have sufficient capacity to manage their waste in a responsible way. We have a team of workers to help advise about recycling and the public can access this information by calling the Recycling Helpline on 336633.

We would like to echo some of the readers letters by asking the public to help make recycling easier by simply washing out containers before putting them in the green box, which will discourage vermin.

For anyone who feels the box is not big enough, we would encourage them to request a second box or take excess materials to their nearest Recycling Bring Centre. There are over 25 sites located throughout the borough, several in supermarket car parks.

We have made contact with some of the readers in response to their letters. We have sent out our Recycling Fieldworkers to their homes and addressed concerns about recycling.

Please carry on recycling. It is getting easier, conserves energy and resources, supports community projects, helps makes a difference to our community and environment and will help us to reach our statutory targets.

Commercial Services Department

Bolton Council