What a waste

I aM amazed that some councils are charging £100 a year for collecting garden waste ( Mail). Surely we already pay for this service in our council tax?

and what does the council do with the green waste? Well, it doesn’t go to landfill. It is composted and sold back to the gullible public or used by the council in parks and gardens.

So we are providing them with free compost and paying for the privilege. Not a bad little earner.

BOB McILROY, Burnley, Lancs. I HaVE also come a cropper with the council after putting windfall apples in my garden waste bin (Letters).

Grass and hedge cuttings, plants, leaves, dead flowers, weeds and even tree branches up to 4in in diameter are allowed, but not fruit.

I have been told that the restrictions on what can go in the recycling bin are to do with the rate that matter can rot down for useable compost.

I argued that rotten apples are compostable, but was told that the issue was with apples bought in a supermarket that have been in a fridge and near meat.

So, I’m busy gathering windfalls for the tip, where there is plenty of wildlife to gobble it up.

MARY KELLY, Luton, Beds. WHO eats windfall apples? I do. Peel, core, discard any bruised, rotten or pecked bits, cut up and pack them in the freezer. Together with frozen hedgerow blackberries, they keep us in crumbles for months. Delicious!

JANE ROSE, Peterborough, Cambs.