"When you’ve finished with a banner that uses brass eyelets the only way to get rid of them is to cut them out," said Imageco director Steve Johnson. "No one has the time to do that so banners end up in landfill."

The plastic eyelets can be left in banners which are being shredded for recycling.

Johnson added that the plastic eyelets have no cost penalty and, being clear, don’t obstruct the underlying image.

"There are no downsides as far as we’re concerned, there’s no price penalty and they look more contemporary," he said.

The £7m turnover, 39-staff firm serves the retail point of sale, exhibition and display markets.

The Bedigital BD FE4000 Robocop plastic banner eyelet inserting machine, which was supplied to the Leeds-based firm by Atech of Welwyn Garden City, was the first to be installed in the UK. It is a top of the range automatic machine, from a range that starts at £400 for a manual machine rising to £9,500 for the FE4000.

Atech managing director Allan Ashman said that the firm had initially wanted a machine that could apply polyethylene eyelets to fabric banners, but found the 100% recyclable eyelets also had other benefits.

"They’re as strong as brass or aluminium, totally transparent and weigh less, so cost less to ship, as well as being recyclable," said Ashman. "Plastic eyelets are definitely the way to go."