By Councillor David Dean, Merton Council (Conservative, Dundonald ward)

The Labour Council have cancelled the green waste collection service.

The Council have not communicated this to residents and Councillors are getting lots of questions about how residents can deal with their green waste.

It is very sad that the collection service has been cancelled at all.

The only option open for many residents is to put their naturally recyclable green waste in their rubbish bin, destined for landfill and a landfill tax of £56 per ton rather than being turned into fertiliser. This is the only solution for non-car owners.

Clearly, the Council’s van that used to pick up thousands of bags of green waste is far more efficient carbon wise than thousands of cars – for those who have a car - driving to the borough’s one remaining recycling centre (Labour have closed the other) to take their green waste.

Oddly, the Council offer a free bulky waste collection system that uses the same vans, same staff and picks up from the same houses and drives to the same recycling centre as the old green waste collection scheme.

And green waste is still being processed if residents can get it to Garth Road Recycling Centre.

Surely it is not beyond of the wit of this Labour Council to work out that green waste can be picked up at the same time as bulky non-green waste!

We must recycle natural products for the good of our borough and planet.

We have stringent recycling targets for very good reasons and they cannot be achieved if perfectly good recyclable waste ends up in expensive landfill.

From an environmental perspective, I find the cancellation of a valid recycling scheme deeply distressing and I hope that someone at the Council sees sense.

My fear is that Labour politicians are putting their views before the needs of the borough’s residents and the planet.

Send your letter to: letters@wimbledonguardian.co.uk