The public were more than helpful. Once the preserve of the environmentally-minded few, recycling suddenly became a moral obligation, with households across the country meticulously sorting their cardboard from their paper, their plastic cartons from their aluminium cans.

Then came the credit crunch, which, alongside the hundreds of other casualties, may well prove that even recycling isn't recession-proof. The waste-paper market has reportedly suffered the biggest blow, with old newspapers and magazines piling up in vast warehouses around the country.

Before the recession hit, China was the biggest market for our waste, with tonnes of plastic, glass and paper used to keep the construction and electrical goods market turning. However, the global downturn has seen demand plummet, and many have begun to wonder whether it is worth recycling at all.

Amid fears we may return to our bad old ways of throwing everything into black bin-liners, those whose job it is to promote recycling are now on the offensive, hoping to convince the public that things might not be quite as bleak as they appear.

"There is no doubt that the current economic downturn has had an impact on prices and demand, " admits Marcus Gover, director of WRAP.

"However, the prospects for recycling are far less gloomy than some press reports would have us think. Although market prices for recovered materials are still fragile, the data we have shows that prices are stabilising – especially for higher quality materials. Even if materials are sold for recycling at lower prices, that is still a better deal for council taxpayers than paying to send it to landfill.

"The growth of recycling in the UK over the last decade makes a terrific success story. Almost 10m tonnes of municipal waste was recycled in the England last year, and latest information shows that markets are still being found for the materials we put out for recycling.

"These materials continue to feed our newsprint mills, glass furnaces and plastic bottle reprocessing plants. Each year in the UK, we collect and recycle more than 1m tonnes of glass bottles and turn over a million tonnes of old newspapers back into newspapers.

"It would be a tragedy if we lose consumer and industry confidence in recycling and throw away the enormous progress we have made."

Certainly, it hasn't been an easy few weeks for the recycling brigade. Last month, a pilot project set to fine households which failed to recycle was left dead in the water after not one local authority in England and Wales signed up.

Then, just this week, a report from the Local Government Association, which criticised supermarkets' use of excess packaging and recommended retailers help to pick up the bill for getting rid of it, was branded "nonsense" and "naive" by the industry. Others have even suggested that recycling is, in fact, bad for the environment.

"Reports which suggest that recycling adds to global warming, rather than tackles it, are misleading and factually incorrect, " says Dr Goodwin, WRAPS chief executive.

"Independent research, carried out by internationally recognised experts, has shown that across the board recycling is the best environmental option. It is good for the environment, it saves energy, it reduces raw material extraction and it helps combat climate change.

"The 8.6m tonnes of paper recycled in this country and abroad last year saved 11m tonnes of CO2 emissions, the equivalent to taking 3.6m cars off the road.

"Selling used plastic bottles and paper to China also saves emissions. Shipping these materials more than 10,000 miles produces less CO2 than sending them to landfill at home and using brand new materials.

"Around two-thirds of household now recycle as a way of life and the message is there is absolutely no reason for them to stop."