The Luton-based printer, which is owned by the Daily Express owner Northern and Shell, will return waste newsprint to Palm Recycling owner Palm Paper.

According to the publisher, the contract will minimise manual handling, increase revenues and reduce the company’s overall carbon footprint.

A system of trailers will be used to collect waste for delivery to the Palm paper mill in Norfolk and return finished product from the mill to the printers.

Palm invested £200,000 implementing the system at West Ferry's plant, which it expects to generate around 5,000 tonnes of fibre a year.

David Broadhurst, chief executive of West Ferry Printers, said: "We wanted a solution that took care of itself allowing us to do what we do best, which is printing newspapers."

Palm Recycling commercial and marketing manager Richard Waterson added: "West Ferry Printers approached Palm Recycling looking for ideas that would improve the efficiency of the waste recovery system proposed for a new printing facility as well as look at ways that could increase revenues and reduce manual handling.

"Palm designed a fully inclusive collection service that would handle all waste streams even those that were classified hazardous, in addition to delivering the required efficiencies."