Those of us who live and work in Brighton and Hove want to see a cleaner city. Containerisation of refuse is attempting to do just that.

In densely populated areas it is not acceptable to leave black bags on the street for gulls or foxes to scatter the contents and the Audit Commission also recommended we provide secure bins to help clean up the streets.

Wheelie bins have been introduced to 18,000 households and survey results show the percentage of people satisfied with household collections has leapt from 44 in 2000/01 to 70 in 2003/04. They also show more people are satisfied now with recycling facilities and civic amenity sites than two years ago.

Residents will appreciate the council's major changes to its refuse operation are bound to result in some problems. But the staff are working hard to provide a good service and learning all the time from feedback from householders.

The council is committed to recycling and the city has increased its recycling rate from 11 to 18 per cent, one of the biggest increases in the country. Currently we serve 46,000 households with kerbside recycling of eight different materials.

We know Brighton and Hove people are enthusiastic about this and we are open to suggestions on how the council can help as many residents as possible try different kinds of recycling.

-Jenny Rowlands, environment director Brighton and Hove City Council