MOST people in Worcester have now had their wheelie bins delivered and are conscientiously separating out the rubbish that can be recycled.

But they will be asking themselves why they bother after reading today's front page story.

Because for every empty wine bottle they put in their green bin, hundreds more are going straight to landfill sites.

It seems that local councils have been so focused on recycling domestic rubbish they are completely ignoring commercial waste.

Yet Brandon Weston, the co-owner of Worcester's landmark Glasshouse restaurant, points out that his business probably produces as many wine bottles in a week as the average household does in five years.

He would like that rubbish to be recycled - but has been told by the city council that there is no system in place for him to do so.

This makes a mockery of the whole doorstep recycling programme.

As a Worcester City Council environment chief points out, it would benefit the environment more to collect the huge volumes of glass from Worcester's restaurants and pubs than the relatively small amounts from private houses.

The councils are blaming Government bureaucracy for this ludicrous situation.

Perhaps it is a measure of the vice-like grip Whitehall has over local government that councils can't think for themselves in such matters.

But whoever is to blame, someone has missed the point on a huge and scandalous scale.

Something to think about next time you fill up your green bin.