THE letter by Cllr Nick Peel (Bolton Evening News, October) is pretty rich, coming from a representative of the Labour Party which gave no priority at all to recycling.

It is because of their inactivity while in office that we have to move quickly to meet the Government targets of 20 per cent recycling which must be hit this financial year, and to help us prepare for the 33 per cent and 50 per cent targets which are to follow.

I would remind Cllr Peel that his administration left a legacy of a measly 8 per cent recycling rate (one of the lowest in Greater Manchester) and 10,000 green bins sitting in depots which had not been issued to homes. The (Labour controlled ) Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority and the (Labour) Office of the Deputy Prime Minister were so concerned about Bolton's apparent lack of commitment to recycling under Labour that they insisted on a written commitment before they would release further funding to help our investment in bins. On behalf of the new Liberal Democrat administration I was happy to give that commitment; a commitment which Labour had failed to give.

Cllr Peel also grossly exaggerates the problems which exist over the new system. Those are being consistently tackled, and the problem of missed bins is now down to under 0.1 per cent (it was 0.25 per cent at its peak).

The truth which the Labour Party do not wish to recognise is that this administration has raised recycling to about 45 per cent (including paper) in the west of the Borough. We have done that in one year, whereas Labour made virtually no progress in 24 years. Why should your readers take notice of a representative of an administration which failed us so badly?

Roger G C Hayes

Executive Member for Environmental Services and Area Working