4/16/13 Soil and water conservation districts promote ag plastic recycling program
By Nick Sabo
April 16, 2013
382
SUMMARY: Program will give farmers alternative to landfills, burning
A multi-county effort promoting agricultural plastic waste recycling is underway, offering farmers an alternative to burning or dumping plastics in a landfill.
Soil and water conservation districts in Holmes, Wayne, Ashland and Stark counties have partnered with local businesses to set up a series of drop off sites for plastics used for bale wrap, silage, seed bags, twine, netting, row plastic and other materials that normally end up in the farmers roll-off container or burn pile. The program is offered at no cost.
Joe Christner, water quality technician with the Holmes County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD), said there has been a demand for such a program for years.
The farmers actually have been interested in a program for the last couple, three years, Christner said. They know it wasnt right to put it in landfills, and it wasnt environmentally sound to burn it. It was a problem because people didnt know what to do with it.
For the program to succeed, it will take a collaborative effort between farmers, the SWCD and partnering businesses, Christner said. The county is not paying for the service, and will receive no money for the waste plastic. However, enough plastic must be collected to make it worth-while for recycling firm Terrecon to send out a truck to retrieve it.
The plastics must be sorted and cleaned before they can be accepted at the collection sites. However, farmers can benefit from savings on waste collection and environmental impact, Michelle Wood, Holmes SWCD district administrator said.
It is going to take a little effort on the farmers part, Wood said. The plastic has to be cleaned, its got to be separated and labelled as well. Theres a lot of this ag plastic out there, and there are costs associated with trash pickup.
As the program is currently set up, farmers can pick up super sack bags at their local SWCD or drop off site. The bags have 50 cubic feet capacity and can hold in about 400 pounds of plastic.
The plastic must first be cleaned by shaking or brushing off excess forage and earth. (The Holmes SWCD recommends letting the plastic dry in the sun, then shaking off excess materials). Once cleaned, the plastic is divided into three categories and stored in three separate sacks. Each sack is to be numbered according to the type of plastic.
The sacks are essentially of the same design as feed and lime sacks. The sacks are currently offered for free, paid for by a grant.
Once the sacks are full, farmers take them to the recycling drop off facility. From there, the plastic will be gathered by the local SWCD and transported to a central collection site. From there, Terrecon will pick up the materials for recycling.
Holmes County currently has one drop-off location. Wayne County has four locations. Sacks can be picked up at the local SWCD and most of the collection sites.
Interested farmers should call the Holmes SWCD at 330-674-2811 or Wayne SWCD at 330-262-2836.
KUTLINE:
Nick Sabo photo
'Super Sacks' like this one held by Holmes Soil and Water Conservation District district manager Michelle Wood and water quality technician Joe Christner will be provided to farmers who want to participate in a recycling program for agricultural waste plastic.