Category Archives: Social enterprise

New plastic film recycling scheme for Powys communities

Town and Community Councils in Powys are introducing a new recycling scheme, developed by Welshpool-based charity Cae Post, to deal with unwanted plastic film.

Mayor of Brecon, Councillor Ieuan Williams, at the launch of the plastic film recycling scheme with Chair of Cae Post, John Harrington.

Following the decision by Powys County Council to stop the collection and recycling of plastic film, waste and recycling experts Cae Post were approached by a number of Community and Town Councils to see if they could fill the gap.

Although Powys County Council no longer offers recycling collections for plastic film and suggests disposing of it with household refuse, stretchy plastic film items, such as carrier bags, magazine wrappers, bread bags, frozen food bags, cling film and bubble wrap, can be recycled.

Cae Post is working with eight councils in Powys, including Brecon Town Council, to roll out its new film recycling scheme and the results to date have been very encouraging.

Mayor of Brecon, Councillor Ieuan Williams, said: “We are delighted with the response to our new plastic film recycling point that has been set up outside the Co-op in Brecon. Although we were originally expecting to empty the bin once a month, demand has been so great that we are now emptying it at least once a fortnight. This shows that the people of Brecon recognise the importance of recycling plastic film and that there is a real need for the service. We would like to thank Cae Post for setting it up.”

John Harrington, Chair of Cae Post said: “We are pleased to be working with councils in Powys, such as Brecon Town Council, to manage plastic film recycling for their communities.

“The environmental impact of plastic film should not be underestimated. Studies suggest that plastic bags, for example, can take anywhere between 20 and 1,000 years to degrade, if they degrade at all in modern landfill sites. In fact, many countries around the world have now banned them. So, if we are going to use items made from plastic film, it is important that, as a society, we do what we can to recycle them.

“At Cae Post, we believe it is vital that these items do not end up in general waste and so we are pleased to offer a collection service for communities in Powys, as well as for businesses, charities and other organisations.”

While it is true that plastic film can be difficult and expensive to sort from other materials by mechanical means, Cae Post has maintained its manual sorting capacity and so is happy to offer this service.

John Harrington added: “As a charity and social enterprise, Cae Post has a mission to tackle disadvantage and create opportunity through environmental initiative. By using Cae Post to recycle plastic film, communities in Powys are helping us to fulfil our social objectives, providing work opportunities for disabled people and those who are disadvantaged in the jobs market.”

The other Community and Town Councils in Powys that are trialling the scheme include Banwy, Castle Caereinion, Dwyriw, Llangunllo, Llangynidr, Llanwrtyd Wells and Trewern.

If your community group or organisation would like to find out more about plastic film recycling in Powys, contact Cae Post on 01938 570426 or email info@caepost.co.uk.

Cae Post signs up as right Waste, right Place campaign ambassador

Cae Post, the environmental charity and social enterprise based in Welshpool, has become an ambassador for the right Waste, right Place campaign, a national initiative aimed at raising awareness of the Duty of Care for waste amongst UK businesses.

Managed by the Environmental Services Association (ESA), the campaign was launched in April 2016 following damning evidence of widespread non-compliance with Duty of Care legislation for waste, and mounting costs on local authorities and private landowners for tackling fly-tipping.

Recent research has revealed that 56% of UK businesses are not complying with the law, despite recent changes to sentencing guidelines and the removal of the £5,000 maximum fine in the Magistrates Court.

Cae Post offers trade waste and recycling services in Powys and Shropshire and is committed to promoting best practice when it comes to duty of care for waste. Cae Post is keen that businesses in the area are fully aware of their responsibility for the good management of waste and recycling.

Speaking about the announcement, Sue Packer, General Manager at Cae Post said: “Our mission as a charity is to create employment and promote positive environmental action. We support right Waste, right Place, as a way to encourage all organisations to think about the environmental impacts of their waste and to adhere to best practice with regard to waste management.”

Sam Corp, Head of Regulation at the ESA, commented: “We are delighted that Cae Post has become a right Waste, right Place Campaign Ambassador. We are looking forward to working with Cae Post to raise awareness of Duty of Care in their area and to many more organisations signing up to the programme in the near future.”

As a social enterprise, Cae Post has a firm commitment to the environment and its mission is to provide meaningful employment and work experience opportunities to people who would otherwise find it difficult to gain these opportunities.

Future Co-ops Conference 2017

A conference that takes place in February will be addressing the post carbon landscape from a co-operative perspective.

The conference, entitled Post Carbon Co-ops, aims to bring co-operative activists together with activists from other progressive organisations to debate some of the key issues facing our future.

The current energy bonanza based on fossil fuels cannot go on forever. Climate change reasons apart, fossil fuels are not inexhaustible. New extraction methods such as fracking promise false hope and renewables can never recreate the massive energy surplus that oil, coal and gas have provided.

The post carbon landscape will impact on all areas of everyone’s lives, from access to food and transport, to energy and manufacturing. Post Carbon Co-ops will examine how co-ops can provide solutions.

Dr Mark Simmonds from Co-op Culture, who is one of the keynote speakers at the Future Co-ops conference, said: “In these times of economic uncertainty, resource depletion and climate change, the one thing we can be sure of is that the world will become a very different place in the short to medium term.

“Energy descent, in particular, will increasingly become a fact of life. We need to think strategically about the co-operative response to this challenge. How can communities co-operate to build resilience? What does a post-carbon co-operative economy that can survive and thrive, look like?”

According to Jo White of Co-operative Futures, the organisers of the event, co-operatives have led the way in offering solutions to emerging crises and the co-ops of the future need to start planning for the post carbon landscape.

“We are looking forward to welcoming a wide range of activists to Post Carbon Co-ops in February and we are hoping to move the debate forward on positive co-operative solutions for a low carbon future.”

Post Carbon Co-ops takes place on Friday 3rd and Saturday 4th February 2017 at Jurys Inn in Cheltenham and delegates can book their place online now.

Cae Post celebrates 30 years

Over 100 people gathered at Welshpool Town Hall recently to celebrate Cae Post’s 30th birthday.

Danielle Brown MBE

Cae Post welcomed supporters, customers, employees and beneficiaries to the event to mark 30 years of creating work opportunities for disabled and disadvantaged people.

The event was hosted by BBC Radio Shropshire presenter Jim Hawkins and the special guest was Danielle Brown MBE, Double Paralympic Archery Champion from Telford.

The celebration of Cae Post’s achievements was also attended by Glyn Davies, MP for Montgomeryshire, and the Deputy Mayor of Welshpool Cllr Hazel Evans.

John Harrington

Best known these days as a successful business recycling thousands of tonnes of materials each year from the homes and businesses of Powys and north Shropshire, Cae Post was originally set up in 1986 as a community organisation to create work for people with learning disabilities.

Speaking at the event, John Harrington, one of the Founders and current Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “When a number of volunteers came together to set Cae Post up, they were pioneers, innovators, social enterprise visionaries. Our aim back then – as it still is – was to provide meaningful and worthwhile activity for people whilst making the world a better place in environmental terms.

“It’s easy to forget how the world of recycling has changed. In 1986 there was no kerbside collection for recycling in Powys. Today, there’s a whole industry set up to deal with our waste and separating valuable materials. Cae Post plays its part in this industry but with a massive difference: our endeavours help people gain valuable experience in the work place.

“Cae Post cannot alone create the work opportunities needed by people who, for whatever reason, face disadvantage in the labour market. The work that we have done needs to be taken up by many more businesses and organisations – but we will carry on playing our part and speaking up for those who need these opportunities.”

John concluded: “We might be in our 30th year, but there is so much more for us to do. We are up for the challenge and we will work hard well into the future to help those people who find it difficult to enter the world of work to find meaningful job opportunities.”

To find out more about Cae Post and the work it does, click here. To read about their 30th birthday celebrations, click here.

Share your memories of Cae Post to celebrate their 30th birthday

Cae Post, the Welshpool based social enterprise which is celebrating its 30th birthday this year, is looking for people to share their memories to mark this important milestone.

Cae Post provides employment to disabled and disadvantaged people in and around Welshpool through the delivery of waste management and recycling services across Mid Wales and North Shropshire. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, Cae Post is putting together a ‘memory book’ to bring together the thoughts and impressions of the people who have been involved with the organisation over the years.

“Maybe you used to work or volunteer at Cae Post, or maybe you know someone who did,” suggests John Harrington, Chair of Trustees at Cae Post. “Perhaps Cae Post helped you get into employment for the first time and you went on to do other jobs elsewhere. Did you help us get off the ground in the early days or have you benefited from our services in other ways? Whatever, the reason, we would love to hear from you.”

Cae Post started out in 1986 as a small ‘not for profit’ community business set up by a group of parents, professionals and supporters, to help create work for people with learning disabilities. It has now become a highly successful social enterprise providing work opportunities to many people who are disadvantaged in the labour market.

“In the beginning, we operated a residential and employment project for young people with learning disabilities at a cottage called ‘Cae-Post’ in Pool Quay (hence our name!) providing real work and ‘ordinary life’ experiences,” explains John.

“Cae Post began recycling plastic bottles collected from the bring sites of north Powys in March 1996 and, within a year, we were providing 12 days’ work a week to people with learning disabilities at our sorting depot in Trewern, a former council workshop. We now recycle thousands of tonnes of materials each year.”

As a social enterprise, the income generated from Cae Post’s business is used to fulfil its objectives to give more people a chance to be part of the working world.

John says: “There are nowhere near enough places in Shropshire and Mid Wales where people who find it difficult to get work can get training and meaningful employment. We believe Cae Post is an asset to the local community, which is why we thought it would be a nice idea to create a memory book to show how much we mean to people – both now and into the future.”

If you would like to share your memories, please email info@caepost.co.uk, with your thoughts about what Cae Post means to you.

Click here to find out more about Cae Post and their achievements over the last 30 years.

Shropshire schools encouraged to increase recycling

Schools across Shropshire are being encouraged to follow the example of Oxon C of E Primary School in Shrewsbury and increase the amount of their waste that is recycled – whilst at the same time helping a charity get local people into work.

Photo shows (from left to right): Cllr Peter Adams (also a School Governor); School Head, Mark Rogers; Cllr Nick Bardsley, Trustee of Cae Post and Glyn Lewis, Cae Post vehicle driver.

Waste from Oxon C of E Primary School in Racecourse Lane, Shrewsbury, is collected weekly by Cae Post, a local social enterprise based in Trewern, near Welshpool, which exists to encourage recycling and help disadvantaged people into work.

Mark Rogers, Head at Oxon Primary School, said: “As a school with a caring ethos at its heart, we are proud to be working with Cae Post, as it helps them provide meaningful employment to disadvantaged people.

“Since working with Cae Post we have collected nearly seven tonnes of waste from the school which Cae Post has recycled – and at the same time helped people who are struggling to get work find useful employment.”

Cae Post is an innovative social enterprise based in Powys, providing waste management and recycling services across mid-Wales and North Shropshire.

As a social enterprise, the income generated from its business is used to fulfil its objectives to give more people a chance to be part of the working world.

Nick Bardsley, a Shropshire Councillor and Trustee of Cae Post, said: “Cae Post has been involved in providing opportunities to disadvantaged people and promoting environmental awareness for over 30 years.

“There are nowhere near enough places in Shropshire and Mid Wales where people who find it difficult to get work can get training and meaningful employment. Cae Post is an asset to Shropshire as well as Powys.

“By working with Cae Post, Oxon Primary School is keeping recyclable waste out of landfill or incineration – and helping local people find work at the same time.”

Cae Post is keen to encourage more schools in Shropshire to get in touch and arrange a visit to their plant to give pupils a better understanding of the importance of recycling and waste management.

Photo shows (from left to right): Cllr Peter Adams (also a School Governor); School Head, Mark Rogers; Cllr Nick Bardsley, Trustee of Cae Post and Glyn Lewis, Cae Post vehicle driver.