A SUCCESSFUL farm waste plastic collection service has expanded to include hazardous waste.

David Brown, of Agriplass, now collects waste oil, filters, spray suits, gloves and aerosols to help farmers comply with legislation.

Non-hazardous farm waste laws come in to force today.

Hazardous waste legislation will not be enforced until May 15 next year, but farmers are advised to act now.

Mr Brown, of Lane Head Farm, Liverton, near Saltburn, east Cleveland, had the idea for his company while farm manager for John Ryder, at Guisborough.

He said: "We had a lot of plastic on the farm, with two pig units, a beef unit and 600 acres of cereals."

He realised legislation would cause disposal problems for farmers and launched Agriplass three years ago.

He has 250 customers in an area from Alnwick, in the north, to Sheffield, in the south, and Settle in the west. He has also set up franchises in Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Cambridgeshire and Bedfordshire.

He collects waste direct from the farm and uses three processors to recycle it.

One in Scarborough turns plastic into drainage panels, another in Stockton turns waste into pellets to make traffic cones, and one at Wilton makes plastic roadside kerbs.

The Environment Agency has given its approval to the new service and Mr Brown provides customers with any necessary paperwork.