Barker visits recyling centre

Mr Barker was joined in his trip by Environment Agency officers and Martin Prior, of contractors Veolia, who are responsible for the site.

The MP was suitably impressed with the mountains of separated plastic, wood and cardboard he viewed waiting to be shipped off for recycling into new products.

However, he was less pleased with the long wait members of the public were having to face to access the area for dropping off household waste.

He said: "Local residents are having to wait for too long to access the tip and at times the queues are reaching right back to the main road.

"Bexhill deserves to have a proper facility that is efficient and clean.

"I have made my views clear to both the Environment Agency and the operators, who are actively looking to upgrade the facility.

He added: "It is really important that, contrary to what people in Bexhill may have heard, they know products are being recycled and they can have confidence in the process.

"At the moment materials are being moved across the country but plans are afoot to build a new facility near Brighton and reduce the carbon footprint of the process."

Mr Barker stressed the need for communication with the public so people can be aware exactly what materials were suitable for recycling.

He also said there should be greater uniformity among producers in the kind of packaging used.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: "Our landfill capacity is being stretched to the limit, particularly in the south, so it is becoming increasingly important that people reduce, reuse and recycle as much waste as they can.

"We live in a wasteful society. Households in England produce 29.1 million tonnes of waste every year. Over half of this consists of recyclable garden waste, waste paper and board, and kitchen waste.

"Landfill should be the last resort for waste that we can't recover or recycle - it is not sustainable to keep sending it there. Unlike burying and burning rubbish, recycling allows materials to be used again and made into useful products. You can also help reduce the amount of waste that goes to landfill by buying products that use less packaging and ensuring that you check that packaging can be recycled in your area before you buy something."