RE Jan Smith's letter (RT July 28): In theory, the user-pays policy works. In the real world, it doesn't.
Firstly, our rates weren't reduced when the user-pays system was put in place so the council was double dipping.
Secondly, no one likes to pay fees, so some were dumping illegally.
The sporting club to which I belong had to pay to get its industrial bins emptied because people were dumping household rubbish in them.
Regarding the green/garden waste: The dump has a separate section for this waste. I would be surprised if it wasn't mulched and recycled.
The council wouldn't be paying the carbon tax on this, anyway, as garden waste stores carbon; it doesn't release it, unless burnt.
S. Schneider, Cleveland
