AS a person who was brought up with open fires in my parents' home we would burn all combustible refuse. The only waste to be collected was the ash.

Today most of us live in a smokeless zone and we must place all our waste in plastic bin liners. It is then either buried or collected for recycling.

I have always believed and insisted that recycling was a waste of time and money when we have no way in the UK to deal with large amounts of a saved product.

The only way out of the problem is to install incinerators around the country.

Crematoriums have taken over from burials, so why not incinerate waste.

Heather Renshaw,

Bishopthorpe Road, York.

Updated: 16:34 Friday, March 07, 2003