B.C. farmers turn in more than 47,000 kilograms of obsolete pesticides

Etobicoke, ON, April 25, 2013 – Farmers in British Columbia turned in more than 47,000 kilograms of obsolete or unwanted pesticides in 2012 for safe disposal.

The program took place across the Peace Region in August and moved to the Interior and Okanagan in October. In 2011, the program ran in the Fraser Valley and Vancouver Island. Over the course of the two-year period, B.C. farmers turned in more than 67,000 kilograms of obsolete pesticides.

“We’re very pleased to see back-to-back years of successful collections in the province,” says Barry Friesen, general manager of Cleanfarms. “B.C. farmers’ participation in this program shows how committed they are to protecting the environment and making responsible decisions on their farms.”

The obsolete pesticide collection program is operated by Cleanfarms, a national industry-led agricultural waste stewardship organization. Since 1998, B.C. farmers have turned in almost 254,000 kilograms of obsolete pesticides.

The most recent phase of the program was funded in part by the Agriculture Environment and Wildlife Fund of the B.C. Investment Agriculture Foundation through the Agri-Food Futures Fund, a trust jointly funded by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture. It was delivered by ARDCorp, the program delivery arm of the B.C. Agriculture Council.

“I commend the leadership shown by Cleanfarms in taking responsibility for developing the program through partnerships within their sector of the industry and with agencies, producers and local governments,” says Greg Norton, chair of the Agriculture Environment Initiatives Management Committee. “The excellent response by producers is a credit to everyone involved.”

After collection, the pesticides are taken to a licensed waste management facility where they are safely disposed of through high- temperature incineration.

The obsolete pesticide collection program is delivered in regions of the province every three years and is free for farmers to participate in. In between collections, farmers are asked to safely store their unwanted pesticides until they can properly dispose of them through the obsolete pesticide collection program.

The program is part of the plant science industry’s commitment to responsible lifecycle management of its products. For more information visit Cleanfarms.ca

First ever joint obsolete pesticide and animal health products collection in Manitoba a success

April 15, 2013 – Etobicoke, ON – Manitoba farmers returned almost 75,000 kilograms of obsolete pesticides and 340 kilograms of food animal medications for safe disposal last year in a first-of-its kind joint collection program.

, a national industry-led agricultural waste stewardship organization, has run an obsolete pesticide collection program twice before in the province but last year it partnered with the Canadian Animal Health Institute (CAHI) to include food animal medications for the first time.

“It’s always a good thing when we can offer expanded programs to help farmers responsibly manage waste on their farms. Partnering with the Canadian Animal Health Institute was a big success and we hope to build on this in the future,” says Barry Friesen, general manager of Cleanfarms.

Farmers were invited to participate in the program, at no charge, by dropping off their obsolete or unwanted agricultural pesticides and food animal medications over a three day-period at 20 collection sites throughout the province in October.

“Members of the Canadian Animal Health Institute were pleased to partner with Cleanfarms in their recent collection of obsolete pesticides, which was expanded to include expired and un-used food animal medications. This pilot demonstrated that a simple, one- stop collection point for both pesticides and animal medications is a valuable service that we can offer to farmers,” said Jean Szkotnicki, President CAHI.

Funding for this program was also provided by the Manitoba Conservation Sustainable Development Innovation Fund (SDIF) and the Manitoba Agriculture, Food and Rural Initiatives Agricultural Sustainability Initiative (ASI) Fund.

Since 1998, Manitoba farmers have returned almost 220,000 kilograms of obsolete pesticides. After collection, the pesticides are taken to a licensed waste management facility where they are safely disposed through high-temperature incineration.
“We support this important program, and we promote it extensively,” said Doug Chorney, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers, one of the program partners. “The overwhelming uptake by Manitoba farmers is an indication of their commitment to sustainable farming practices.”

The obsolete pesticide collection program generally comes to the province every three years. In between collections, farmers are encouraged to safely store their unwanted pesticides until they can properly dispose of them through the obsolete pesticide collection program.

The Cleanfarms obsolete pesticide collection program is part of the plant science industry’s commitment to responsible lifecycle management of its products.

Alberta farmers turn in more than 66,000 kilograms of obsolete pesticides for safe disposal in 2012

Etobicoke, ON – April 11, 2013 – Alberta farmers demonstrated their commitment to environmental stewardship by turning in more than 66,000 kilograms of obsolete or unwanted pesticides for safe disposal last year.

The obsolete pesticide collection program took place across the southern half of the province over a five-day period between Oct. 29 and Nov. 2 where farmers dropped off old or unwanted pesticides.“

“Farmers are some of the very best stewards of the land and their participation in this program serves to highlight that,” says Barry Friesen, general manager of Cleanfarms, which operates the program. “They responsibly use pesticides to improve their operations and grow a safe supply of food for Canadians and when it comes time to dispose of unwanted pesticides, they do it safely and responsibly through a program like ours.”

Cleanfarms is a national industry-led agricultural waste stewardship organization. The obsolete pesticide collection program has been operating since 1998 and since then, Alberta farmers have turned in 203,889 kilograms of obsolete pesticides.

“This program creates a win-win situation; farmers are given the opportunity to safely dispose of unwanted pesticides through this easy- to-use program and by doing so, they take an important step toward protecting the environment,” says Lynn Jacobson, President of Wild Rose Agricultural Producers.

After collection, the pesticides are taken to a licensed waste management facility where they are safely disposed through high- temperature incineration.

The obsolete pesticide collection program generally comes to the province every three years and is free for farmers to participate in. In 2013, the program will run in the northern half of the province. In between collections, farmers are asked to safely store their unwanted pesticides until they can properly dispose of them through the obsolete pesticide collection program.

The program is part of the plant science industry’s commitment to responsible lifecycle management of its products. For more information visit Cleanfarms.ca