LAST Saturday morning in my street, three men in waterproofs emerged from a pick-up truck emblazoned with the Newport City Council logo and proceeded to push leaflets about recycling through every house letterbox.

Presumably the three were on overtime at weekend rates; so no economies there.

The leaflet mentions Newport’s recycling rate over the last 10 years as rising from 15 per cent to 50 per cent and a fine of £900,000 if they don’t improve to 52 per cent.

But our councillors have been saying something similar ever since the scheme was started, and to date very few councils have paid any fines.

The story of the boy, who cried ‘wolf’ too often, comes to mind.

The leaflet also mentions that our present wheelie bins are being replaced by smaller ones and another reusable bag.

But at what cost and why?

Instead of the council spending thousands on enriching the coffers of the suppliers of these bins of all sizes and colours, not to mention the carbon footprint created in the making of them, why not build a recycling plant at Maesglas Tip, collect the rubbish once a week in one bin and make life simpler for everybody.

Mr A Greenhalgh Ross Street Newport