Letter: Efficient recycling

Sir: We welcome Polly Toynbee's support for recycling (15 September) but take issue with her opinion of "price-fixing glass makers" who "in their greed to pay the lowest possible prices in the short term are throttling recycling schemes at birth".

The glass industry has been committed to recycling for over 20 years and has invested over pounds 11m in the national bottle bank network. This yields over 430,000 tons of recovered and recycled glass every year. Glass accounts for over 70 per cent of all recycled domestic packaging in the UK and the bottle bank system here, and in Europe, has been proven to be far the most efficient and least costly way of collecting used glass containers.

The green plastic box which prompted Ms Toynbee's article represents a vastly more expensive way of collecting waste. Furthermore the doorstep method is in its infancy and will have to develop massively before it can collect the volumes of recycled packaging that are needed to meet Government goals. The glass industry is committed to increasing the amount of glass collected via bottle banks and is working to organise the funding of new bottle bank sites and equipment.

BILL COOK

Director General

British Glass

Sheffield