Park benches made of yoghurt pots and road bollards that were once sheets of bubble wrap – just two of the amazing products made by a company in Wolverhampton.

Omnia Recycling, based in Bushbury, was set up by Jason Barker two years ago. He came up with a patented technique which turns all household plastic waste into useful objects.

The recycling plant in Showell Road takes in hundreds of tons of supermarket bags, margarine tubs, drinks bottles every week and even the odd frisbee. The waste comes in from local authorities and commercial businesses from across the UK and is stacked into massive piles.

It then undergoes a secret process and the result is in the form of benches, palletts, fence posts and even apparatus for a children’s playground.

The idea of turning plastic cups, bags and pots into outdoor furniture and other objects was the brainchild of the firm’s managing director Mr Barker.

He came up with the idea around three years ago and secured enough funding to open his own plant in Wolverhampton, which now employs 20 people. The 37-year-old said: “It is a straightforward concept really.

“We bring in all types of plastic waste and we turn it into objects that can be used again and again. If the plastic didn’t come here then it would be sent to a landfill site.

“Around five million tons of rubbish is sent to landfill every year and I’m proud by the fact that we are helping to reduce that amount.”

Mr Barker, who is originally from Leeds but moved to Wolverhampton with his parents when he was a teenager, said interest was growing in his unusual products.

“We have a lot of customers in the UK that buy from us and there are also more foreign businesses getting in touch,” he said.

“I think they are keen to buy because our products require no maintenance and are therefore far more economical than wood.”