MADAM - In his letter to the Herald (April 17) concerning recycling of refuse, Kingsley Squire describes a useful discussion with the council lady - useful, that is, in that he learned that the option of a smaller wheeled bin for landfill refuse is available.

MADAM - In his letter to the Herald (April 17) concerning recycling of refuse, Kingsley Squire describes a useful discussion with the council lady - useful, that is, in that he learned that the option of a smaller wheeled bin for "landfill refuse" is available. This option should surely have been mentioned in the leaflet. We are very unlikely to fill the large bin with two weeks' refuse and many residents, elderly or without convenient space, would find a smaller bin easier to use.

Kingsley and the council lady concluded that cardboard and nappies would form a large part of the bulk landfill waste. Cardboard can be taken to the recycling centre; the many who take garden waste to the recycling centre by car would not have to make a special journey. (The future of the recycling centre seems to be unclear, but we hope that there will still be one.) The use of "real nappies" would much reduce that element of landfill waste; our daughter brought up her family using terry nappies, with very little inconvenience, especially with the availability of disposable ones for occasional use.

It would have been sensible to offer smaller bins, before delivering the large ones everywhere; or perhaps better still, to have distributed smaller bins, while offering larger ones if requested. If many households had chosen the smaller bin, there might have been a useful saving of money.

Alan and Barbara Mence

44 Woolbrook Park

Sidmouth