CITY of York Council’s waste strategy for the next 25 years considers two options:

1 Recycle 50 per cent of our waste and send the rest to landfill.

2 Recycle 50 per cent of our waste and send the rest to the proposed incinerator at Allerton.

But what about Option 3, an increase in recycling to 60 per cent or 70 per cent? Would that be cheaper than either of the above options? The answer is we don’t know because, astonishingly, this scenario hasn’t been costed.

We know it can be done – South Oxfordshire Council is already achieving recycling rates of 70 per cent and advances in technology will doubtless lead to further improvements.

But if we sign up to the incinerator we will be penalised if we send less than 50 per cent of our waste for burning. The more we recycle, the more we will pay.

Councillors must consider this third option of increased recycling before making a decision. Otherwise they risk saddling the York taxpayer with a highly expensive white elephant.

Will Dyson, Fellbrook Avenue, York.