Don’t burn it, don’t bury it and don’t send it to landfill, is the message from Agrecovery who are offering free recycling programmes readily available for farmers, growers, and lifestylers.
“We receive dozens of calls each week, and we know merchants have too, from customers wanting us to find a solution for their plastics,” explains Tony Wilson, chief executive at Agrecovery, a not-for-profit charitable trust.
“With an average of 10 tonnes of waste produced per farm per year, there is a real and urgent need to offer more recycling solutions to farmers and growers for New Zealand’s environmental sustainability.”
Tony says Agrecovery is constantly investigating their ability to broaden the types of plastics that can be recycled through their programmes as well as developing the infrastructure for repurposing it.
With over 160 fixed collection sites nationwide, recycling of plastic agrichemical containers, drums and Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs) has never been easier.
Now, Agrecovery has launched a Small Bags Scheme for the recycling of low-density polyethylene No.4 plastic (LDPE) and woven polypropylene plastic (No.5 plastic) seed, feed and fertiliser bags, 25kg and under.
“This is an extremely complex scheme given the myriad of products in the market and the types of plastics used. It represents a significant milestone in reducing the environmental impact of plastic packaging,” Tony says.
A lot of the plastic is recycled in New Zealand and used predominantly for underground electrical cable cover.
Soft plastic from the Small Bags Scheme is currently exported offshore due to infrastructure challenges in New Zealand and recycled as pellets for resale into the circular economy.
“Recycled pellets can be used to make a multitude of items such as insulation for buildings, car parts, and furniture,” Tony says.
“Our schemes recover good plastic and returns it back into the recycling market so that manufacturers can use this recycled content over purchasing virgin plastics, which results in a reduction of new plastics entering the market.”
