C Simpkins wrote about the recycling efforts of the council's Foss Islands Depot under the heading 'Can you believe it?' (Letters, September 4). Well, I can believe it and the situation is probably worse.

My own efforts to recycle domestic waste and waste from my small business (a bakery cafe in Micklegate) have been thwarted by the poor service at Foss Island depot.

Full recycling skips, depot staff moving recyclables such as cardboard, paper, tins and even clothes into landfill skips, all of this topped by aggressive questioning by a staff member about the exact origins of my cardboard, tins and paper in my little van.

Even though I am prepared to collect, sort, store and transport my own recyclable waste, the council still wants to charge me if it is produced through commercial activity. This charge is on top of normal business rates and waste disposal charges. No wonder that York has a poor record on recycling, and landfill sites keep filling up too quickly.

I hope that the excellent Euro Directive on waste recycling will force the council to review its 'half-baked policy' and show some true vision and leadership. Please, let's recycle because we will all be the better for it.

Marc Smelik,

Hunters Way,

York.

...IT IS not only cans you may have trouble getting recycled at the Foss Island Road depot (September 4). Turn up with a car full of garden waste, and you may be offered the choice of putting it in the general skips or taking it home because the dedicated skips are either full, or being emptied.

I have turned up before 5pm and been told the area was fenced off because of lack of staff. Now I always phone the depot during the day I plan to go.

Complaining by phone to the council evinced a polite lack of interest in so minor a matter. When I pointed out that the frustration caused would make all but the dedicated give up, it produced apparent lack of comprehension.

There should be a proactive enthusiast running the site; the situation shows a lack of commitment to the detail of public persuasion.

I suggest placing a large noticeboard at the gate, the responsibility of a specific employee, showing the current status for various materials and, if unavailable, when next expected.

Michael Cadoux,

Church Street,

Bubwith.

Updated: 12:43 Saturday, September 08, 2001