IN response to Venk Shenoi's letter 'Wasted myths' in the Review, Nov 26.

Firstly, Gloucestershire Friends of the Earth Network thank?Venk regarding our annual network day in October both for his positive reflections on the day and for him sitting on the question and answer panel for the afternoon session.

Recycling technology is improving so at present just consider the cost of an incinerator for Gloucestershire as it is our taxes that will pay – if one is deemed to be suitable despite the PFI situation.

The sum of money to bid for in the invitation to tender to deal with Gloucestershire's waste, was approximately £646,000,000. Yes, a lot of our money. It would be a long term contract. Companies have submitted their proposals and shortlists have been made.

In a recent article, in another newspaper, Stan Waddington, the councillor i/c waste, was quoted as speaking in terms of £800,000,000 – in other words hopes for a cheaper incinerator with our money look to be somewhat optimistic.

Very recently Kent County Council's incinerator had to be repaired, so they had to sell recyclable material. In their accounts for the end of that year their Waste Dept showed an income from selling recyclates of £2,300,000 during that year – yes, that is money actually coming in. The county councillor responsible for waste is quoted as saying that if he could get out of the contract then he would, but he could not.

Friends of the Earth UK produced a report in September 2010 entitled "More jobs, less waste". Briefly, if an ambitious but achievable recycling target of 70 per cent for municipal waste was set and achieved by 2025, then there is the potential, conservative estimates suggest, for about 50,000 new jobs across the UK. So with recycling we could be looking at many new jobs for people in Gloucestershire. Friends of the Earth report that in recycling there are 10 times more jobs than in incineration.

Energy from incinerators is an inefficient way of obtaining energy although propaganda by probably interested bodies like to talk about energy from waste. Incinerators destroy the resource that is waste. Waste is a resource and it must not be wasted – 'Don't Waste Waste – Recycle'.

– Martin Rudland, High Street, Cinderford.