ALMOST everyone in the country would like all the plastic they throw away to be recycled.

A lot of new, alarming evidence is emerging about the dangers of discarded plastic even finding its way into the food chain.

Unfortunately, as a BBC survey has highlighted, there is very little consistency around the country in terms of how plastic is dealt with. Apparently, there are 39 different ways that local authorities treat the different types of plastic that householders throw away.

Locally, New Forest District Council operates one rather confusing scheme for plastics and Southampton City Council quite another.

While I am pleased to hear that central government has indicated a willingness to tackle the issue, I am doubtful that it will provide any extra resources for local authorities to do so. New Forest District Council has a very poor record for recycling, made worse by long term contracts that involve the need to keep feeding Energy from Waste facilities.

Perhaps the situation is so complex that it requires us to stay within the EU, conforming to regulations of a type that have cleaned up our beaches, our rivers and increasingly, on air quality?

Councillor David Harrison

Leader, New Forest Liberal Democrats