I WAS shocked to read in your last edition that charities and voluntary groups are to be charged for using Wiltshire’s recycling centres. Charities should be using the money they earn to support their causes, and Wiltshire Council declares itself to be a great supporter of volunteers.

It should also be supporting recycling when we are finally becoming aware of the profligate way in which we generate waste. Recycling doesn’t just save on landfill, it also reduces our consumption of ever scarcer raw materials.

Recycling Wiltshire-style is certainly a challenge, and every time I manage to get into the recycling centre, I am filled with admiration for all the people who are prepared to jump through the hoops to dispose of their rubbish responsibly rather than chucking it in the dustbin or, worse, a convenient ditch. It is true that the Devizes centre is overcrowded at weekends, and I suppose the others are the same.

I always try to take things to recycling when I am driving in that direction anyway, but the last time I did this was on a Friday, when the centre was closed. I am not prepared to create more pollution by driving round the county looking for one that is open, so I went back on the Saturday, and the cars were queuing down the street to get in.

It is bad enough that our household recycling system is so complicated, with the black box and the blue wheelie bin, and that the local recycling skips have disappeared. It is tedious to have to stuff drinks cartons individually into the container at the depot, and to hunt for the battery barrel which always seems to be somewhere else. The staff are very helpful, but they are on lower incomes now that the hours have been reduced. So congratulations to the plucky recyclers who defy the obstacles, but not to the council for making environmentally friendly behaviour such a challenge.

JASPER SELWYN, Great Western Close, Devizes