Sir I was surprised to see in your July 21 report of the city council debate on recycling that there had been criticism of the plans to extend the collection of green waste and cardboard to the whole of the city as quickly as possible. Many residents in areas not covered by the initial pilot scheme have been calling out for this, ever since the scheme was first introduced not just as an additional contribution to recycling targets, but as a great convenience to householders. The suggestion that, when blue boxes are later brought in, electors will be unable to follow simple instructions about what goes in which container, seems to take a depressingly low view of the capabilities of the average Oxford resident.

Tony Joyce Oxford