"Cae Post Ltd is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity that works to achieve our goals through recycling projects.

In partnership with Powys County Council we now run a commercial scale Materials Recovery Centre (MRF) near Welshpool employing around 50 people on a full and part time basis.

We work closely with the schools and communities in Powys and beyond to spread the message of social inclusion and sustainability.

We are a social enterprise, that is, we trade like any other business but do this for a social purpose. A social enterprise is a way of providing much needed services or goods for a community in a way that is both professional and community based.

It is sometimes said that a social enterprise seeks to deliver a "triple bottom line" - to be profitable, to be sensitive to environmental issues and to deliver social benefits. We are aware of how challenging this is and are happy to admit that it is work in progress.

Any surplus or profit from our activities is reinvested and used to further our aims. We may seek grant funding to support particular parts of our work or help develop new activities. Cae Post is run by paid staff and has a management committee, the trustees or directors, who are not paid.

We currently process around 3000+ tonnes of recyclates per annum. Of this only around 5% finds its way into landfill. The capacity is available to substantially increase the amount of waste we process without the need for extending the premises.

By using low tech collecting methods (i.e: 7.5 tonne box vans), and hand sorting we are able to keep our environmental footprint relatively small.

Promotional activities in schools and the community help spread the message of sustainability through the benefits of social inclusion. Cae Post is also an Accredited Open College Network training centre.

The community in Powys has benefited from our efficient recycling activities and we have raised the profile of recycling.

Many telephone calls testify to the growing awareness of the public of the need for recycling and the fact that they themselves can play an active part. Importantly we are able to provide meaningful work for up to 30 disadvantaged people in a safe, modern, working environment.

As part of the service we offer to our partners, schools and trade customers Cae Post has initiated a sophisticated web based data collection capability.

Operatives log details of the materials collected or received onto hand held computers. This is relayed wirelessly to our server database, which in turn updates the information on the web site.

Our target groups have password protected access to their own area of the web site. From here they can use the dynamic data - types of materials, amounts, points of collection, dates etc. - as a positive aid to management.

Through the web pages, schools, and soon community groups, will be able to compare their recycling targets and successes should they so wish.

We believe that our data system is unique in its comprehensiveness, the means by which it is collected and processed and the ease with which our target groups have access to (almost) real-time information.

We constantly monitor new means of improving our service. The Kerbside Collection Service we introduced in late 2006 collects recyclates from rural properties throughout mid-Powys.

This is innovative in the way it is approached and managed with computerisation playing a large part in at-source data collection enabling real time management figures to be available instantly. As the service we provide grows larger so does the opportunity for increasing the social inclusion element.

The project at Cae Post has shed light on many areas regarding the welfare, safe working conditions and capabilities of people with learning difficulties ('supported volunteers').

Our supported volunteers have played a great part in our success story and generally have an understanding of the need for, and the benefits gained from, recycling materials.

We continue to promote the message of sustainability and social inclusion."

Article by Philip Williams.