About the Programme

The Secretary of State for the Environment has awarded the Agricultural Waste Stakeholders Forum (AWSF) £1million of BREW* funding to develop a programme of work to look at how farm plastic waste can best be collected and recovered.

This programme of work will feed into the development of a producer responsibility scheme for the collection and recovery of non-packaging farm plastics which is currently being developed by Government.

The Programme proposes to examine current collection and reprocessing activities in the UK in order to establish where there are limited or no collectors currently operating and identify barriers impeding the growth of collection schemes. A small number of pilot projects will subsequently be run to trial expansion opportunities and efficiency improvements, that if successful, will help inform the development of a more comprehensive and sustainable collection coverage across the UK.

The Programme will be delivered between April 2006 and June 2007. Information collated and analysed will be reported through this website, using Databases, Material Specifications, Cases Studies and Good Practice Guides.

* Defra's BREW Programme recycles revenue generated through Landfill Tax to fund a range of free services and targeted support for businesses.