Farmers in Bruce County are part of a network of farmers from BC to PEI who are collaborating with Cleanfarms on several pilot projects to help establish a cutting-edge zero plastic waste plan for Canadian agriculture.
Farmers and producers that manage and operate farms with livestock and utilise livestock feed such as hay and silage are eligible to participate in these projects. This feed must be wrapped and stored for months, necessitating the use of tonnes of agricultural plastics such as baler twine, silage bags, bunker coverings, and bale wrap.
The most frequent method of ag plastic disposal across the country is to dump the plastic in a landfill or to discard it on the farm.
Cleanfarms is a national industry stewardship organisation that creates and administers initiatives to collect and recycle waste agricultural plastics, allowing farmers to be better stewards of their land for their own farm communities and future generations. These programmes also assist farmers in maintaining a clean and orderly operation.
Most plastic products and packaging, including agricultural plastics, may be recycled into new items. The challenges are twofold: how to store it on the farm until it can be moved to recycling collection sites, and how to ensure stable recycling end markets that demand the materials as feedstock for new plastic goods. New products, such as farm drainage tile, plastic bags, and flexible irrigation pipe, are being developed with agricultural plastic.
Cleanfarms is providing farmers with an essential tool in the form of large plastic collecting bags as part of a three-year trial initiative that begins this week in Bruce County. Farmers should separate each type of material – twine, bale wrap, and bunker covers – into individual collection bags, tie them shut, and bring them to a recycling collection facility.
Cleanfarms just calculated the 2020 recycling rate and it shows another major surge in recycling these containers in 2020 at 76% compared to 71% in 2019 -- an all-time record for recycling empty ag plastic jugs in Canada. With initiatives like the one in Bruce County – these numbers should continue to climb.