Cae Post making progress

Cae Post has announced that it is making progress for its future, despite losing a contract to offer kerbside recycling collections for Powys County Council.

Since May, Cae Post ,he environmental charity and social enterprise based at Trewern near Welshpool, has been focusing on maintaining and developing its recycling services to trade customers and recently launched an innovative scheme to help local communities recycle plastic film and bags, which are no longer collected from residents by Powys County Council.

In 2016-2017, the amount of material received by Cae Post rose from 4802 tonnes to 4865 tonnes, an increase of 1.3%. Of that material, glass accounted for 440 tonnes, food 462 tonnes and non-recyclable material 389 tonnes. 

Whilst the overall weight of materials delivered into Cae Post from Powys County Council decreased by just over 8%, Cae Post successfully achieved a 36% increase in the value of materials sold, which generated a return of £189,000 to Powys County Council. This was £76,979 more than the Council were expecting, due in part to the high prices achieved because of the quality of the sorted materials.

Speaking about the results, Cae Post Chair of Trustees John Harrington said: “As an independent charity we are determined to reinvent ourselves for the future so that we can continue providing meaningful work experience and opportunities to local people.

Our aim is to extend our business and develop new areas of activity that show what impact we can have on both the environment and in terms of work experience for disabled and disadvantaged people.”

Cae Post saw the number of customers using the trade waste and recycling service grow by 23% this year with a 20% increase in the tonnage handled and a 26% increase in income.

But Cae Post exists to offer much more than waste and recycling services. Its mission is to provide job opportunities to those members of the community who find it hard or who have been excluded from the job market.

During the year, Cae Post continued to provide 30 placements per week, taken up by 19 individuals through our Supported Employment contract with Powys Social Services, and to maintain placements for five independent volunteers.

Cae Post employees attended eight accredited training courses, two in house courses and four external mandatory training courses.

Cae Post funded two work placements, which both lasted 52 weeks, and were also able to offer four work experience placements to other outside agencies. The charity employed 35 individuals in the year, of which 20% were recognised as disabled, and the number of days absence per employee fell by 26%.

As a community-based enterprise, Cae Post welcomed 388 visitors to the site, including six local schools, and attended seven local events.

For more information, visit www.caepost.co.uk.