Cleanfarms recognized for sustainability excellence

January 28, 2015, Winnipeg, MB – Canada’s leading agricultural stewardship organization, Cleanfarms, has been awarded a 2014 Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Award in the Sustainability in Pollution Prevention and Product Stewardship category.

Cleanfarms was recognized for its commitment to sustainability based on accomplishments in the fields such as pollution prevention, waste minimization and education and awareness of the value of sustainable development.

“Our members are pioneers in the field of product stewardship. They have been delivering effective industry-led end of life stewardship for the past 25 years, long before other industries were even thinking about it,” says Barry Friesen, general manager of Cleanfarms. “This award is particularly meaningful to us because it really focuses on tangible outcomes, which is what Cleanfarms, its members and the 110 municipal collection sites who help us deliver programming, are committed to every day.”

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the plant science industry’s empty pesticide container program, one of Canada’s first and longest running stewardship programs. Over 600,000 containers were diverted from Manitoba landfills in 2013. The launch of the obsolete pesticide collection program followed in 1998. The last obsolete pesticide collection program took place in Manitoba in 2012 when close to 75,000 kilograms of obsolete product was collected and safely disposed of.

The industry’s commitment to end of life management continues to grow with recent program add-ons which include the addition of obsolete animal health medications to the obsolete pesticide collection program and a partnership with Green Manitoba to pilot plastic film and twine collections in the province this spring and fall.

“Manitoba farmers are committed to using environmentally sustainable practices, and Cleanfarms provides us with one more tool to do this,” said Curtis McRae, vice-president of Keystone Agricultural Producers and chair of its Environment and Land Use Committee. “The strong farmer participation in Cleanfarms’ programs is an indication of our willingness to adopt practices that will protect the environment.”

The Manitoba Excellence in Sustainability Awards recognize and honour people, projects and ideas that successfully translate the principles and guidelines of sustainable development that were developed by The Manitoba Round Table for Sustainable Development into concrete and lasting achievements.

For more information on Cleanfarms’ work in Manitoba, please visit www.cleanfarms.ca.

Saskatchewan farmers safely dispose of more than 94,000 kilograms of obsolete pesticides and livestock medications

January 12, 2015, Saskatoon, SK –Farmers in Saskatchewan returned 93,935 kilograms of obsolete and unwanted pesticides and 540 kilograms of livestock and equine medications through Cleanfarms’ obsolete collection campaign this year.

Cleanfarms, which operates the program, is a national, industry-led agricultural waste stewardship organization. Collections took place at 20 participating ag-retail locations throughout the southern half of Saskatchewan from October 27 – October 31, 2014. This is the fourth collection program Cleanfarms has run in the province.

This marked the first time that a combined collection of pesticides and livestock medications has been offered in Saskatchewan. Cleanfarms partnered with the Canadian Animal Health Institute (CAHI) to add the collection of livestock and equine medications to Cleanfarms’ existing obsolete pesticide collection program.

“The members of the Canadian Animal Health Institute were pleased to participate in this important program. It demonstrates our industry’s commitment to safely managing animal medications throughout their lifecycle,” said Jean Szkotnicki, President of CAHI. “We were pleased to partner with Cleanfarms by providing Saskatchewan’s livestock and equine community with this service.”

Saskatchewan farmers have a long history of good stewardship practices and have been participating in the obsolete collections program since 1999 – which is a testament to their environmental commitment. The program last came to Northern Saskatchewan in 2011, when more than 60,000 kilograms of product was collected from farmers and safely disposed of.

“This year’s collection was a great success thanks to the commitment of Saskatchewan farmers and participating ag-retail collection sites,” said Barry Friesen, Cleanfarms’ general manager. “Cleanfarms is proud to offer collection programs that ensure unwanted and obsolete pesticides, as well as livestock and equine medications, can be disposed of in an environmentally responsible way.”

The obsolete collection program is generally delivered in each province or region of the country every three years and comes at no cost to farmers. The program will be delivered in the northern half of Saskatchewan in the fall of 2015. In between collections, farmers are encouraged to safely store their unwanted pesticides and livestock medications until they can properly dispose of them through the program.

The obsolete collection program is part of the plant science and animal health industry’s commitment to the responsible lifecycle management of their products.

For more information, please visit www.cleanfarms.ca.