Labour councillors have paid a visit to the city's Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) at Hessay to find out more about how recyclable waste is dealt with after learning that the Council has provisionally not met its recycling target.

The recycling plant deals with everything from paper and glass to unwanted televisions, and councillors have been learning more about what happens with the waste when it arrives at the site.

The Group's Neighbourhood Services spokesperson, Coun. Ken King said:

"The MRF shows what is possible with the materials York people recycle on a day to day basis. Recycling levels have increased since Labour introduced kerbside recycling in 2003 but we feel there is scope to do far more. Labour has high ambitions for recycling more of the city's household waste and we don't feel the Lib Dem Executive has been ambitious enough with our targets. South Oxfordshire is at 70%.

"After reaching around 43% of waste recycled in 2007, the figure stands at almost exactly the same today. That means that as landfill tax has increased, recycling rates standing still means the council is having to pay more. This is not sustainable both environmentally and financially for the council. The targets and amounts recycled need to be higher.

"We learnt today the Hessay site is almost at capacity in terms of what it can deal with, so we will be seeking talks to see whether a move to a larger site is appropriate as a possible means to have more ambitious recycling rates."