WHAT A WASTE!

Daphne Culligan, who owns Renwick Clarke, ladies' fashion, in the High Street, says Lewes District Council, while encouraging people to go green and recycle as much waste as possible, is not helping when it comes to commercial cardboard.

'I am somewhat puzzled about the refuse collection policies of the council,' she said.

'Due to stock deliveries, we accumulate a lot of cardboard which we put out weekly for collection.

'To my dismay, I discovered that all the cardboard collected from businesses '“ and there must be tons of it - is processed as general refuse and then dumped as landfill.

'Following a discussion with the bin men, I was told that, as a business, I am not allowed to take my cardboard to the Ham Lane refuse depot or the cardboard cage in North Street, as these sites are deemed domestic only.

'Their advice to me was to put it in my car, and take it to Newhaven. I want to go green but apparently I'm not allowed to.'

A Lewes District Council spokesman said: 'Our policy is to promote and encourage recycling for domestic customers.

'Unfortunately, we cannot take large amounts of commercial cardboard from local businesses because we don't have the facilities to handle it.

'However, there are companies which do offer regular collections of paper and cardboard from businesses, for a charge, and we would be happy to provide Renwick Clarke with their details so that they can consider an alternative way of disposing of their cardboard.

'This might lead to a reduction in the charge made to them by Lewes District Council as the amount of commercial waste they produce would be reduced.'