AS Herefordshire struggles with mounting rubbish, groundbreaking local technology for turning waste into compost is being "exported" to help another county meet recycling targets.

Leominster-based Bioganix is signing a 10-year contract with Suffolk County Council and is to build a £4 million composting plant on Parham Airfield, Suffolk.

Bioganix will initially process 12,000 tonnes of mixed kitchen and green waste from green bin collections around Ipswich - its new plant on a former waste transfer site will have a 48,000 tonne annual capacity.

The compost will be spread on local arable fields.

"We are extremely pleased that Suffolk County Council has selected Bioganix," said managing director Nick Helme.

Councils will soon face hefty fines if they exceed limits on how much rubbish they send for landfill.

Bioganix is having talks with more than 10 councils around the country with a view to setting up more compost-making factories.

The firm is being floated on AIM - an "alternative" London Stock Exchange - in a bid to secure millions of pounds of capital.

Experimental composting work to "digest" waste in a massive revolving steel vessel began in a former farmyard at Wharton Court by the A49 Leominster bypass in 2001.

The compost pioneers were given a rough ride by residents and planners but took steps to tackle smell problems.

The firm continues to operate on the site under a temporary planning agreement.

Mr Helme said the company had no wish to pull out of Herefordshire where it handles commercial waste, mainly poultry feathers from Sun Valley.

Local technical innovation and local investors backing the '7Y' parent company led Bioganix to success, he said.

The Bioganix process had won them a Bulmer's sustainability technology award.

He hoped other Herefordshire businesses would be able to share in the success. Leominster steel-framed building specialists would soon be heading to Suffolk to build the new plant.

"We want to stick with the people we know and who helped us in our early days," said Mr Helme.

Building work was due to start at the beginning of 2006, he added.