I am pleased to respond to the letter from Mr Cox (Guardian, April 22) regarding the new blue bin for paper recycling. The borough council carefully researched the subject before supplying blue bins, which will be provided to all suitable households in the borough by the end of September.

Blue is a standard and distinctive colour for paper collection bins across many authorities across the country including Halton and Knowsley locally. We have only had an adverse reaction to receiving a bin from one per cent of 22,000 properties recently provided with a blue bin.

Use of the bin is not yet compulsory, but in our recent Municipal Waste Strategy consultation, more than 91 per cent of the 4,600 plus respondents agreed that it should be compulsory and more than 57 per cent preferred a wheeled bin to a box, sack or bag.

A wheeled bin provides for a cleaner, more valuable paper commodity, which we can collect less frequently than box or sack, thus minimising any cost to the council taxpayer.

With regard to junk mail, when residents receive their calendar for collection of the blue bin, they will see the telephone number for the Mail Preference Service, so they can be removed from junk mail lists. I agree that waste minimisation is even better than recycling.

Mr Cox describes the scheme as worthless, however I would suggest that leaving a valuable commodity, like paper, in the grey bin and paying to have it deposited on a landfill site, of which Warrington has had more than its fair share, would be far less worthy.

No scheme will be perfect for everyone, we are looking at different methods for those in flats etc to participate if they have no accessible space for a blue bin, but overall we feel we have made the right choice.

CLR Terry O'Neill

Executive member

for environment and regeneration