PRIZE DRAW SUCCESS FOR POWYS FARMER

Michael Evans, a second generation hill farmer of Newtown, Powys is celebrating after scooping the first prize in a competition staged by used farm plastic collectors, Birch Farm Plastics.

Birch ran the prize draw at a number of regional agricultural shows throughout the summer to mark the silver anniversary of the manufacture of balewrap by bpi.agri. Marilyn and Peter Birch started the family business some 22 years ago from their farm in Rhiwfawr, Swansea. The business is now run by their daughter Cheryl and son Brian, and has gone from strength to strength covering the whole of the UK, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, through a network of collection agents and recovery sites. The family business now operates from The Abernant Yard, at Rhydyfro near Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley.

As a leading collector of waste farm plastics such as used balewrap, silage sheeting, feed/sawdust bags, polytunnels, crop cover film, Birch goes on to supply this scrap to bpi.recycled products, which is a sister company to bpi.agri, who then reprocess it into new items including outdoor furniture, building supplies and refuse sacks. The special and long-standing relationship between the two organisations not only helps farmers to meet farm waste regulations, it also plays an important part in keeping waste out of landfill.

Michael was one of scores of people who seized the opportunity to enter the draw to win 10 reels of Silotite® balewrapping film. Donated by manufacturer bpi.agri, Silotite is widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading balewrapping films and every year is used to wrap in excess of 50 million silage bales across 50 countries on six different continents. However it was Michael who was fortunate enough to be the first drawn ‘out of the hat’.

Michael along with his 89 year-old father, Ben, sister, Ruth and the assistance of his brother-in-law (who just happens to be a contractor), produce 600 bales each year to feed the farm’s sheep and cattle over the long winter months, was delighted with his prize.

Speaking of his win, Michael said: “I can’t believe my luck. Winning the draw is fantastic and the extra balewrap will certainly come in handy. Silotite is a great product and to receive some for free is absolutely fantastic.”

Commenting, Cheryl Birch, herself a farmer, said: “We staged this competition as a way of giving something back to our customers and the farming community as a whole. Congratulations to Michael and thank you to everyone else who entered.”

- Ends –

IMAGE:                  Birch Draw Winner.jpg

Caption:              Luck of the draw. Powys Farmer Michael Evans is presented with his prize of 10 reels of Silotite® by Marilyn Birch from Birch Farm Plastics.

Pictured left to right: Kate Collett from bpi.agri, Ben Evans, Ruth Williams, Michael Evans, Gill Evans and Cheryl Birch from Birch Farm Plastics.

For more information on this story, please contact Birch Farm Plastics on 01269 826680 or email bfpc@btconnect.com

EDITOR’S NOTES

• Birch Farm Plastics is a family run business helping farmers to dispose of their plastic waste in a more environmentally friendly way.

• Through its own team and a network of agents, the company provides a plastic waste collection service covering much of the UK. Specific items it can remove from farms and supply onto bpi.recycled products for recycling include balewrap, silage sheeting, feed/sawdust bags, polytunnels and crop cover film. Birch can also collect fertilizer bags, netting, twine and triple rinsed containers.

• As Europe’s largest recycler of waste polythene, bpi.recycled products currently reprocesses over 80,000 tonnes of scrap per annum year from a variety of industrial, commercial and agricultural sources. It uses this waste to create new products such as street furniture, refuse sacks and building supplies.

• Waste farm plastic like that supplied by Birch Farm Plastics is ideal for recycling into new products because of its inherent durability and strength. Reflecting this, bpi.recycled products operates dedicated agricultural waste recycling facilities in Dumfries, Scotland and in Rhymney, South Wales.

• To date, Birch Farm Plastics has provided thousands of tonnes of waste to bpi.recycled products.

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