A NEW rural waste recycling centre has been set up to help farmers cut costs.

Husband and wife team Steve and Anouk Skurek have had a fantastic response from the farming community since opening the site in Newent.

They have been dealing in waste plastic and card for over 10 years and have been buying the commodity to sell to the far East but found they were increasingly buying farming waste that the farmers had paid to recycle or land fill.

Anouk, who is from Ross-on-Wye, said it seemed unnecessary for both parties to pay and so went about setting up the baling facility where farmers could drop in their waste plastic and card for free.

"We make our profit from baling shipping and selling the waste to Asia where it is recycled," explained Anouk.

"But offering a free service seems to be unheard off – the biggest obstacle we have had to overcome is trying to convince farmers that it’s a free service."

Rural Waste Recycling, which is based on Edward Keen's farm, does not have a minimum delivery weight so welcomes people with plastic and card in their cars, tractors and lorries.

"We weigh every delivery in and out in order for us to issue waste transfer notes which are needed by the farms for the Environment Agency," added Anouk..

"In the past farms may have buried or burned their waste plastic but new laws which prevent this from happening are being increasingly enforced by the EA with ad hoc farm visits and drones.

"Farmers have had to look at other ways to dispose of their waste plastic and card."

She said landfilling or skip companies had, until now, been the only option with costs that can run into hundreds of pounds for disposing waste plastic every year, often with minimum weights to meet which on some smaller farms can leave farm waste hanging about for months if not years which can attract rats and mice.

"However, we offer an easy straight forward service that means keeping a farm clear of waste all year round and is totally free of charge," said Anouk.

"All we ask is that farmers and businesses call ahead so we know when to expect them.

"We don’t have picking lines so it is important that the waste is not mixed together that way as its unloaded it can go into its correct bay to wait to be baled."

The baling facility is open weekdays. For more information, call 01531 888111 or visit ruralwasterecycling.co.uk