– Number of collection sites across Alberta expanded to 26 – 

Lethbridge, AB (October 21, 2020) – As of early October, six new locations came onboard as collection sites that are open and ready to accept empty agricultural grain bags and used twine for recycling. This increases the total number of collection locations in the ‘Alberta Ag-plastic. Recycle It!’ pilot program from 20 to 26.

The six new sites include:

• Clear Hills County at the Cleardale Transfer Station
• County of Forty Mile No. 8 at the Foremost Transfer Station
• County of Minburn at the Mannville Waste Transfer Station
• Cypress County at the Hilda Transfer Station
• Flagstaff County at the Flagstaff Waste Regional Landfill
• MD of Provost at the Provost Regional Landfill

The list of existing collection sites can be found on the Cleanfarms website on the ‘Alberta Ag-plastic. Recycle It!’ pilot program page. Most existing sites are currently taking rolled, tied grain bags of any size, and twine for recycling. Some, however, just take grain bags and a few take only twine.

“The pilot is on track with plans to expand access to grain bag and twine recycling collection sites. Ensuring Alberta farmers have every opportunity to recycle these plastic ag materials is imperative,” said Cleanfarms’ Executive Director Barry Friesen. “The plastics used in these agricultural tools are valuable resources and should be recovered and recycled in a circular economy.”

Cleanfarms operates the ‘Alberta Ag-plastic. Recycle It!’ pilot on behalf of the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Group (APRG) and started collection in October 2019. The project is being funded through a grant from the Government of Alberta and administered by Alberta Beef Producers.

Lisa Sulz sees this recycling program as a win-win for everyone. She is the agricultural fieldman for Cypress County which surrounds Medicine Hat.

“If we can keep these plastics out of the environment and recycle them, then why not. The more we can keep out of landfill and the environment, the better. Grain bags are bulky and take up a lot of room in landfill cells, and cells are expensive to build,” she said. “There is no question that county rate payers benefit from this agricultural recycling program.”

Stacey Barrows, who with her husband, Brent, farms 4,300 acres in the County of Forty Mile, in the southeast corner of Alberta, said farmers always want to be good stewards of their land.

“If we want our families to be able to stay on the farm, we need to think about the environment as a whole — the land, water, and air. We all need to recycle not only to keep our farms healthy, but also to teach younger generations to be stewards of the land, too,” Stacey emphasized.

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About Cleanfarms

Cleanfarms is a non-profit industry stewardship organization committed to environmental responsibility through the proper management of agricultural plastic packaging and product waste. Recycled agricultural plastics are made into new products such as farm drainage tile, flexible irrigation pipe and plastic bags. Cleanfarms.ca

About the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Group 

The APRG is a group made up of over 20 stakeholder organizations from sectors across Alberta representing municipalities, producers, non-profits, recyclers and retailers among others. For a full list of members and more details please visit www.aprg.ca.

Media Contacts

Barbara McConnell, Cleanfarms | 416-452-2373 | bmcconnell@cleanfarms.ca
Tammy Schwass, APRG | 403-835-6467 | tammy@albertaplasticsrecycling.com

The pilot project is led by the multi-stakeholder Agricultural Plastics Recycling Group; funds were granted by the Government of Alberta and are administered by Alberta Beef Producers.

Empty pesticide and fertilizer containers for recycling as part of the Cleanfarms collection program. Photo Cleanfarms

ETOBICOKE, ON – Each year, Waste Reduction Week (WRW) is marked in the third week of October when organizations throughout Canada celebrate achievements and commit to work harder to support the principles and practices of the circular economy, resource efficiency and waste reduction. At Cleanfarms, these principles are at the core of programs delivered across the country every single day.

This year, WRW (October 19 – 25) has designated Thursday, October 22 as plastics day, meant to highlight the progress made across multiple sectors from the take-make-waste linear consumption to a circular restorative and regenerative economy.

“Given the central role plastics play as an essential tool in today’s agricultural community, Thursday is a day to recognize the achievements Canadian growers have made, and continue to make toward sustainability in farm operations for present and future generations,” says Cleanfarms Executive Director Barry Friesen. “Every year, the number of Canadian farmers who use Cleanfarms’ programs to manage agricultural plastic waste is growing. There’s no doubt that as stewards of their land, they want these programs to collect empty pesticide and fertilizer jugs, drums, totes, grain bags and twine to expand, so that recycling becomes a standard throughout every province”

The 2019 results help to tell the story:

• Farmers returned and Cleanfarms recycled 5.5 million empty pesticide and fertilizer jugs and containers 23L and under, bringing the total since the container recycling program began more than 30 years ago to 131.5 million jugs recycled.
• In a relatively new program to recover and recycle non-deposit empty pesticide and fertilizer totes and drums, last year farmers returned 55,400 of them bringing the total recovered since this program began to 183,400.
• The latest Cleanfarms program to be launched focuses on recovering plastic grain bags. In 2019, with a provincial government extended producer responsibility program in place in Saskatchewan and pilot programs underway in Manitoba and Alberta, the number of tonnes of used ag-waste plastics headed for recycling mills has rapidly climbed. With used grain bags, ag-film wrap and thousands of kilometers of twine combined, Cleanfarms sent 3,700 tonnes of waste ag-plastic to end markets to be recycled into new agricultural products such as drainage tiles.

Progress Toward Resource Efficiency and Circularity in 2020

While 2020 results for container recycling will not be available until spring 2021, indications are that this will be a record-breaking year across Canada, despite COVID-19 challenges, with farmers returning more containers, drums and totes than in any previous year.

Saskatchewan

Equally strong are indications that the number of grain bags collected for recycling in Saskatchewan will continue to climb, bringing more recyclable plastics into the circular economy for processing and remanufacturing.

Manitoba

The provincial government in Manitoba has asked Cleanfarms to help it transition pilot projects to recover ag plastic waste to a permanent producer responsibility program to ensure recycling measures are in place province-wide for empty pesticide and fertilizer containers, grain bags and twine.

Alberta

Under the ‘Alberta Ag-Plastic. Recycle It!’ pilot project, Cleanfarms has set up 20 collection sites across the province that, as of October 1, are accepting used grain bags and twine from growers for recycling. Cleanfarms is set to announce six additional collection sites in the coming days and sights are set on adding another two sites in the Peace Region early in the new year. Cleanfarms runs the ‘Alberta Ag-Plastic. Recycle It!’ pilot on behalf of the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Group.

Quebec

In Quebec, farmers’ increasing need to manage about 6,500 tonnes of plastic twine, bale wrap and netting to store hay has led to Cleanfarms establishing a series of pilot projects to identify and test new ways to manage these materials safely and to avoid disposal in landfill.

Working with regions, municipalities, retailers, distributors, recyclers and farmers to test best approaches to recovering these plastics for recycling or energy recovery, Cleanfarms has completed the first phase of doing field research. Currently, Cleanfarms is conducting pilots in the Montérégie Region to assess options for collecting and processing these plastics, and for communicating effectively with farmers on best practices.

In 2021, Cleanfarms will expand the pilot projects to other regions in Québec, and down the road, the aim is to establish and operate an industry-funded program to collect and recycle these materials in a permanent program.
Through these and other programs that are underway or in planning stages, Cleanfarms is helping farmers operate their farms sustainably, reflecting best practices in a circular economy, and celebrating the goals of Waste Reduction Week.

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About Cleanfarms

Cleanfarms is a non-profit industry stewardship organization committed to environmental responsibility through the proper management of inorganic agricultural waste. Funded by its members in the crop protection, crop storage and animal health industries, Cleanfarms develops, implements and operates programs that help farmers manage ag-waste, much of it plastic. Cleanfarms’ programs are available across Canada and have been emulated internationally. The success of these programs highlights the commitment of manufacturers, distributors, retailers, municipalities, provinces and farmers to agricultural environmental responsibility and sustainability. Cleanfarms contributes to a healthier environment and a sustainable future by recovering and recycling agricultural and related industry plastics, packaging and products.