FAQ - Recycling Service

With 22,000 farmers using the system we have heard and answered thousands of questions on the Bin & Liner system, and plastics recycling.

These are some of the most frequently asked questions.

What's it going to cost me?

You can get onto the system by purchasing a packet of Liners for £15.00 plus carriage & vat. Fill up the Liners with the different waste types, and phone for a collection. Charges vary between the different Collectors and the prices are from £17.50 to £35.00 per Liner. We do not charge by weight, and you only pay for the Liners we collect.

Bins are more expensive at £250.00 for a Bin delivered with 5 Liners (ex VAT) and a Farm Waste Policy, but they are much more efficient than using Liners alone. The Bin allows you to fill Liners easily and by squashing the waste in you can compress 150 to 200 bale wraps or 120 fertiliser bags, or 225 five litre drums in a Liner. If you can fill the Liners efficiently like this then cost of recycling comes right down.

The other advantage is that the Bin is weatherproof and designed to sit outside next to the source of waste.

These figures are a useful guide, and you can quickly work out what it will cost you every year. Arable farmers can base a cost of one and a half Liners per 100 acres or approximately £0.35 to £0.45 pence per acre.

Is there an annual membership fee?

We don't have an annual fee. You only pay for the Bins and Liners you purchase and the actual number of Liners collected from your farm.

How does it work?

We ask you to separate out your different plastics into four types (or Streams, see Waste Separation in the Menu for details) and place them into separate Liners.

This has two huge benefits. Firstly it dramatically reduces the contamination in the waste making it easier and cheaper to recycle. And secondly separating out the waste at source means that no further separation is necessary so plastics can part-processed and sent for recycling. Which removes an expensive and unnecessary additional cost that is present in many collection systems.

Why do I need to segregate my plastics?

You need to separate out your plastics to make recycling easier and cheaper.

If we had to separate out all the materials we would need to employ many staff to manually separate out the different waste streams. This would increase the cost and decrease the efficiency.

We have developed a system that has been tried and tested since 1992 and the thousands of long-term users accept it as part of their daily routine. Also farmers that use the system are actively contributing to its success by segregating and keeping their plastics clean.

How clean does my plastic need to be?

Try to put your plastic straight into the Bin or Liner. If it has silage or other materials on it, please shake the worst off. Empty bulk bags completely, making sure that all traces of fertiliser are shaken out.

Spray drums and other plastic drums need to be triple rinsed to classify them as non-hazardous waste.

How do the Collections work?
You simply ring your local collector when you have filled Liners to uplift, and they will schedule you in for a collection.

This may take a couple of weeks because they need to organise the round as efficiently as possible. Meanwhile place your Liners where there is good road access that is free from any overhead cables.

Why do I need to deal with my waste?

It's now law. Farm waste is now covered by Waste Management Legislation and is deemed a controlled waste. This means that the producer has a Duty of Care to make sure that waste is handled safely and dealt with in the terms of the legislation.

Duty of Care has no time limit and it specifically requires that wastes are stored safely, and disposed of responsibly. Waste can only be handled or dealt with by individuals or business that are authorised to deal with it. Also a written record of all transfers must be kept through a system of Waste Transfer Notes.

In England and Wales burning and burial is banned. In Scotland burial is banned, farmers are not encouraged to incinerate, however they are permitted to incinerate small amounts of plastic, under an exemption as long as they are able to meet strict environmental criteria.

Hazardous or Special wastes are now included too. Items such as waste oils, filters, sharps aerosols must be disposed or recycled by a suitable licensed facility.

How does the Hazardous Service work?

We are introducing a new service where we will supply suitable containers for farmers to separate and store their hazardous wastes.

We will collect wastes every twelve months and the costs will be based on transport a consignment note and the cost of recycling. See the Hazardous Service page for further details.

I only produce small amounts of waste, what do I do?

You can work with the Liners or we have a smaller version of the standard size Solway Bin called the 'Mini Bin.'

These hold about 25 wraps or 30 fertiliser bags and the mini Liners will be collected in the same way as the standard Liners or you can take them to recycling points.

FAQ - Products

How much is delivery?

All the items available to buy online include delivery to the mainland UK. Delivery to Scottish Islands, Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland is not available online. Call us in the office, 01387 730 666, to get a quote for delivery to these areas.

When can i expect delivery?

As all of our products are made to order we quote 3-15 working days from date of order or date of payment. We will always deliver your order as soon as we possibly can. If you require your order quicker than this period or before a certain date please call the office first on 01387 730 666 and we will try our very best to accomodate your request.

How is my order delivered?

A lot of our items are fairly bulky and heavy so the majority of them are sent using a pallet service. We always request that the pallet company has a tail lift for easy unloading. Bigger items like our large pig arks ( 8ftx4ft, 8ft x 6ft & 8ft x 8ft) will be delivered on an 8ft pallet. This size of pallet normally doesn't fit onto a tail lift. Please make sure you have means of off-loading the pallet at your end. Alternatively, a few extra bodies should do the trick for most items with the exception of Stokbord - a full pallet of these sheets can be very heavy! There may be further charges if the original delivery cannot be completed.

For more information please visit our terms page