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