WHAT a fantastic Christmas present. Waste recycling in Oxford in November topped 50 per cent for the first time, compared with only 38 per cent in the past couple of years.

I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who is putting their recycling into their blue wheelie bin and using their food waste caddy.

I also want to thank the best team of refuse and recycling staff in the country.

The food waste goes to two new composting plants in Oxfordshire.

The recycling goes to an expanded Materials Recycling Facility at Enstone, near Chipping Norton. The rest of our waste still goes to landfill at Ardley.

Oxford already throws away less per person than most places.

But sending less to landfill is good for the environment and saves the taxpayer money as landfill charges rise.

So my New Year's resolution is to continue to press for less and less of our rubbish ending up in holes in the ground.

If South Oxfordshire and Cherwell can recycle 60 per cent and more of their waste, so can the residents of Oxford.

JOHN TANNER, city council executive member for a cleaner, greener Oxford, Sunningwell Road, Oxford