Dear Editor - I wish to respond to the letter 'A nappy thought' written by Pembrokeshire County Councillor Tony Wilcox and published in the Western Telegraph (January 4th).

The Strategic Recycling Scheme (SRS) project is funded by the European Objective One programme.

The aim of the project is to raise awareness and encourage recycling and composting throughout Pembrokeshire.

The role of the part-time post of co-ordinator advertised in the Western Telegraph by Pembrokeshire County Council on behalf of one of the partners of the project, the Pembrokeshire Real Nappy Network, is to raise awareness of how nappies affect the environment and to encourage people to use real nappies.

This is due to the fact that it is estimated to take between 100 and 500 years for each disposable nappy to decompose in landfill.

With approximately 1,200 babies born in Pembrokeshire each year, and with the average baby using around 2,200 disposable nappies annually - an average of six a day - this amounts to approximately 2.6 million nappies being used in Pembrokeshire every year, creating around 440 tonnes of waste that requires disposing of in landfill sites.

The Welsh Assembly Government - controlled by the party which Cllr Wilcox represents on the county council - approved this scheme which the Government is encouraging across the country.

COUNTY COUNCILLOR BRIAN HALL Cabinet member for the environment Pembrokeshire County Council