A COMMUNITY shop has come up with a unique way to dispose of milk bottle tops after customers collected more than a ton of them.

Siop Pwllglas, which recently celebrated its second birthday, had appealed to customers to drop off their unwanted plastic bottle tops in the shop as they were collecting them for a charity appeal.

But when the appeal fell through, the shop had enough of them to fill several one ton gravel bags.

The dilemma of what to do with them was solved by a company on the coast which offered to turn the bottle tops into something a bit more useful.

Shop manager, Sharon Newell, said: “We were stuck with these bottle tops filling up one of our volunteers’ barn and Business Wales gave us a list of companies that might be able to help.

"So we asked PlastEcoWood in Bodelwyddan if they would buy them from us but they said no.

"Instead they offered to use the plastic to make garden furniture for us and they made a donation to the shop so it has worked out really well.

“We hope this could be the first of many times that we could work together.”

The collection was the idea of Gwyneth Jones, 63, from Pwllglas who has cancer and hoped that the plastic could be used to help raise money for cancer research.

“Having cancer I thought it would be a good way to raise funds. 

“My husband put the bottle tops in one of his barns as we had filled about four sandbags with them.”

Bodelwyddan’s PlastEcoWood process mixed plastic waste which is destined for landfill and turn it into a recycled plastic lumber product.

The mixed plastic waste comes mainly from household collections from Wales with small amounts from industry and supermarkets.

Their products can be used for many purposes such as posts, fences, benches, bollards, walkways and bespoke products such as pallets, growing boxes, planters and boardwalks.

A spokesman said: “As well as helping to save the environment we have a cost effective solution as an alternative to timber, which is subject to rotting and needs maintaining, whereas our product does not rot or need maintenance and is ideal in a wet environment.

“We are able to help local authorities by giving back to the community products made from the mixed plastic waste and this has been well received across the country.”

John Northcott, managing director of PlastEcoWood, said: “We are very impressed by the great work Siop Pwllglas are doing and are pleased to be of assistance to them by taking the plastic bottle tops collected throughout Wales and recycling them.”

The company made planters to be used around the grounds of Neuadd Pwllglas the home of Siop Pwllglas.

Mrs Newell added: “I am very grateful to PlastEcoWood for all of their help and we have some beautiful planters from them now to make the place look even nicer.”