KEITH Smith complains that there are not enough Yellow Pages recycling banks in the York area (April 1).

At the moment, residents cannot put their Yellow Pages directories into the paper banks because the paper recyclers are not willing to take them. This is due to the yellow dye and the adhesive that is used to bind the spine, both of which reduce the quality of the end product.

Experience from previous years has shown that even where recycling banks are provided, the use of this facility is quite limited. For this reason no more than three sites across the city have been used.

Rather than provide lots of expensive and underused banks, a more environmentally friendly solution would be if the Yellow Pages organisation would change their manufacturing process to allow the directories to be accepted in the normal paper recycling banks.

Alternatively, they could arrange for their distributors to collect the previous edition of Yellow Pages directly from residents. They visit every property in the area to deliver the directories, so why not take the old directories away with them? This is in line with the principle that "the polluter pays".

Paul Thackray,

Head of client and city centre services,

City of York Council,

St Leonard's Place, York.

...KEITH Smith is right when he asks for more recycling facilities for Yellow Pages (April 1). His letter suggests that he does not know that there is a further one at Safeway in Acomb, which council officers arranged at short notice for me when I was told that there would only be two places on the east of the city to take them (Foss Islands Depot and Towthorpe, Strensall).

This may still be too far for some residents in the west of the city to reach, and so I will be looking at improved facilities for the next issue of the Yellow Pages. This will be essential to improve York's very low recycling rate which after 18 years of Labour is still less than six per cent.

Many Lib Dem-run councils have run borough-wide kerbside recycling schemes for many years now, and Mr Smith has my word that I shall be doing my bit to ensure that the whole city has a recycling service that helps everyone to do their bit.

Andrew Waller,

Liberal Democrat, Environment,

Carnot Street, York.

Updated: 10:22 Thursday, April 11, 2002