As I need to go to Stevenage once a week, I take all my plastic bottles and food packaging etc to the recycling centre. It is very well organised and easy to carry out. This week however I had to go to Letchworth centre and my goodness, what a different e

As I need to go to Stevenage once a week, I take all my plastic bottles and food packaging etc to the recycling centre. It is very well organised and easy to carry out.

This week however I had to go to Letchworth centre and my goodness, what a different experience.

Firstly there was a massive queue of cars, caused by the bad design of the place where cars just stop and unload in chaos with no through lane. Then I asked the lad there where to put my plastic, he told me to put it in the general (landfill) container. Then I asked three lads where the container was for cardboard and they pointed in three completely different directions.

I had to hunt around the back of the containers for the right place, it was a complete joke. Nothing was clear, the young lads had no interest or training it seemed and it made me wonder how much of the stuff which I bring at great inconvenience, is actually recycled.

I know plastic bottles are apparently recycled but at Stevenage there is a plastic bag type facility and a hard plastic facility so most of my waste goes in there.

At Letchworth, my empty plastic paint container was tossed into the landfill box along with my plastic stuff. There did not seem to be any facility for hard plastic. I am confused, why is it so different in the same county?

What exactly is recycled, can someone clearly tell me? It appears as though all of the plastic containers which meat, fish etc come in and the cling film type stuff around it is not recyclable according to Letchworth, is that the case as I take it to Stevenage each week and I am assured that it is?

Please can someone who knows clarify this?

CLAIRE, West Hitchin