Dear Sirs,

1. We are a family of four: one adult (me) and three children.

2. I very much appreciate that the Vale of Glamorgan uses the commingled method.

3. We have a small kitchen/back porch area. I do not have room for various containers. At present I have a slim bin for the black bag in the corner between the inner door and cooker and a food recycle container on my draining board. The commingled recycling goes into a plastic bag wedged between the door and the radiator in the same corner. I cannot see how to fit in extra containers.

4. If the method was changed I could theoretically continue to co-mingle and then re-sort just before it was taken away. However such a plan would be daunting. It would be hard to motivate myself to do so. Once it is in the bag it is out of mind. I also think I would be more inclined to put plastic wrappers and small things such as lids and scraps of paper into the black bag if I had to handle these again, even though they are clean.

5. If I were to store my recycling out the back during the week, which would mean numerous trips into the garden, it would get wet and sluggy. While I was in Brecon this week I saw how many containers they have in Powys. I don't have room for all these, anywhere.

6. I am clearly not the only person with these issues: Looking at arguments for and against co-mingling on-line, I found the website "Lets recycle.com. On it, David Palmer Jones, SITA UK chief executive, pointing out that: “We have done a lot of work to look at improving recycling rates in urban dwellings. Those groups say that they want simplistic systems, they want clear instructions and they want to know what happens to that material.” He added: “I am not against source segregation but I don’t think it is a panacea to solve everything. It is not always easy to have a myriad number of containers."

7. The site also carries an article from 2010 "Report seeks to dispel commingled 'myths'" regarding a report which had just been published. In the article Greenstar UK's chief executive, Ian Wakelin is quoted as saying "Frankly, I think the deck has been stacked against commingling. Now there is new, important and impartial evidence about commingling and other collection options...Given the great pressure we all face to cut waste and to recycle more, I would hope the relevant authorities will give this evidence equal emphasis when considering collection alternatives,"

8. I hope the Vale of Glamorgan will continue to be able to offer commingling. I think councils should be given the freedom to choose.

Yours sincerely

Valerie Provence

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