A plastic container recycling scheme is saving thousands of tonnes of rural waste from being burnt or buried and orchardist and farmers are being urged to make use of it.
Agrecovery has more than 70 collection sites at easily accessible locations across rural New Zealand, supported by collection events in areas without a permanent site and on-property collection for large users.
Agrecovery container collection sites provide farmers and growers with an alternative to burning or dumping. The need for the service is highlighted by a report commissioned by Bay of Plenty and Waikato Regional Councils of 69 properties which recorded 2564 tonnes of rural waste with an average of 37 tonnes generated per property each year. Graeme Peters, Chair of the Agrecovery Foundation is reminding farmers there is no need to burn or dump plastic containers. “Thanks to a commitment to good product stewardship by manufacturers and distributors, farmers can recycle their empty plastic containers from more than 3,000 commonly used products for free. This eliminates the need for unsustainable practices such as burning or dumping." The waste in the BOP and Waikato study ranged from various types of plastics, scrap metal, timber and fence posts to glass, batteries, construction and demolition material and domestic refuse. Property owners dealt with it by burying, burning or bulk storing it on site. A similar study in the Canterbury area reported comparable results, with 53 farms surveyed in 2013.Overall, waste generated by Canterbury farms was estimated at 209,000t produced each year, roughly equal to the amount going to landfill from Christchurch city in 2012-13. According to the report the bulk of that waste (92 per cent) is either buried, burned or bulked stored over the year. “Since their report was released in 2013, Environment Canterbury introduced a ban on burning agricultural plastics. We believe this was responsible for the 113 percent increase we experienced in container recycling in the Canterbury region in the first six months following the ban, compared to the same period in 2013. “It proves that farmers will increase their use of sustainable disposal methods with the right combination of incentives in place, such as bans and free recycling." Agrecovery, a not-for-profit charitable trust, offers recycling and recovery programmes for plastic containers, drums and unwanted or expired chemicals. Nearly 10,000 farmers and growers use the programme. More information is available on the website, www.agrecovery.co.nz
0 Comments
Leave a Comment