Ag Forward: Managing on-farm plastics
Recycling agricultural plastic pesticide and fertilizerRecycling agricultural plastic pesticide and fertilizercontainers 23L and under – a familiar practice tomany Alberta farmers – is being updated.At the request of the Agricultural Service Boards(ASB) that have been offering jug collection servicesin Alberta, Cleanfarms is moving recycling collectionlocations from municipalities to local ag retailers.The process is being phased in throughout theprovince over three years. Using ag retailers asrecycling collection depots is already in place forempty 23L to 1000L pesticide and fertilizer drumsand totes.“Our plan is to have every ag retailer that sells cropinputs in under 23 litre containers accept thoseempty jugs to ensure farmers have the same orbetter access to recycling them,” says Barry Friesen,Executive Director of Cleanfarms. “Farmers will beable to return empty jugs to the point of purchase, which makes sense since they visit those locationswhich makes sense since they visit those locationsmultiple times a year.”Updating the recycling collection process in Albertastarted in 2022 following a request from the ASBs toAlberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA)and Cleanfarms to transition the 23L and underempty container recycling program from municipaldepots.The gradual process of moving away from municipaltransfer stations and landfills began in mid-2022with municipal collection sites that historically hadno or low collection rates. More municipal locationswill close their collection sites this year, as ag retailercollection sites open up. The entire update processwill be completed by the end of 2024.