IN RESPONSE to the letter entitled ‘Use incinerator’ of April 29, I would like to clarify that we have never had an incinerator at the household waste recycling centre in New Inn.

We currently send all of our general waste (ie waste that is put out in the black wheelie bin) to a facility in Avonmouth that converts it into an ash residue. This, as the letter writer states, helps prevent a large amount of waste from going into landfill.

Indeed, current waste statistics show that Torfaen now sends the least amount of waste to landfill compared with other local authorities in Wales. However, recycling is always preferable to incineration, and only a very small proportion of the incinerated waste, around 12 per cent, can be counted towards the Welsh Government’s recycling targets.

A significant amount of the material that is currently sent for incineration is material that could easily be recycled at the kerbside. With Torfaen residents currently recycling around 52 per cent of their waste, and the next Welsh Government target requiring us to reach 58 per cent in 2015, we need more residents to recycle their food, garden waste, paper, cardboard, cartons, glass, cans, textiles, plastic bottles and other mixed plastics at the kerbside.

Councillor John Cunningham Executive member for neighbourhood services Torfaen County Borough Council