Becoming a Cleanfarms member is the most efficient way to meet the regulatory obligations.
Brand Owners/Retailers that supply farmers with agricultural plastic products (ie. crop inputs or ag plastics such as twine, silage/bale wrap and silage bags/bunker covers and tarps), can meet their regulatory obligations in two ways:
- operate a (government approved) agricultural plastic product stewardship program, or
- appoint an agent to operate a (government approved) agricultural plastic product stewardship program.
Brand Owners/Retailers that wish to meet their obligations through Cleanfarms must register and adhere to financial and administrative rules. Please see our membership agreement.
What’s next?– Call us at 877-622-4460 ext. 2245.
Work with Cleanfarms to meet your obligations related to PEI’s Materials Stewardship and Recycling Regulations
This is how Cleanfarms works with Brand Owners/Retailers to develop and operate farmer focused programs that allow Owners/Businesses to meet their regulatory requirements:
- Brand Owners/Retailers sign an agreement with Cleanfarms to become Members.
- Cleanfarms develops and manages programs on behalf of its members.
- Brand Owners/Retailers finance the programs.
- Brand Owners/Retailers must submit confidential data (eg. the volume of twine, number of containers sold in PEI etc.) of agricultural plastic products
- Cleanfarms establishes a levy or a non refundable EHF (Environmental Handling Fee) per container, per bag, or by unit to fairly allocate the costs of programs amongst Brand Owners/Retailers
- Brand Owners/Retailers remit the EHF/levy to Cleanfarms to finance the programs
- Brand Owners/Retailers can choose to apply the EHF as a visible fee at the Point of Purchase or incorporate it into the total cost of the product.
- Cleanfarms manages all reporting and financial requirements
Cleanfarms manages all activities associated with program delivery. This includes:
- Collection site selection, training and support.
- Transport and logistics.
- Sourcing and selection of end markets, managing all related health, safety and environmental standards.
- Financial management including the handling of confidential information.
- Promotion and education (farmers, collections site personnel and other stakeholders).
- Government reporting.
- Financial audits.
Environmental Handling Fee (EHF) and levies
A non-refundable EHF or levy finances all of the costs associated with recycling/recovery programs in Prince Edward Island (PEI).
Frequently Asked Questions
Regulatory
What is a ‘Brand Owner/Retailer’?
Review section 110.1 of the regulation.
“brand owner means, in respect of an agricultural plastic product sold, offered for sale or otherwise distributed in or into the province,
- A manufacturer of the agricultural plastic product,
- A distributor of the agricultural plastic product in or into the province, or
- Where the agricultural plastic product is imported into the province, the first person to sell the agricultural plastic product in or into the province;”
A “retailer” is defined as “a person who sells or offers for sale an agricultural plastic product directly to consumers.”
What is an agricultural plastic product?
Review section 110.1 of the regulation.
“agricultural plastic product” means a product manufactured for use in the agricultural industry and includes:
- low density polyethylene grain and silage bags, silage bunker covers and tarps,
- low density polyethylene bale and silage wrap, and
- polypropylene twine;
- low density polyethylene or polypropylene bags, and paper bags, whether lined with plastic or other material or not, used for seed, pesticide and fertilizer,
- high density polyethylene containers of up to 23 litres in capacity for pesticide and fertilizer, and
- bulk liquid transport products in sizes of 23 litres and greater used for pesticide and fertilizer.
The intention of the regulation is to capture all pesticide/fertilizer/seed containers & bags, films that are used for the storing of feed and baler twine.
Where does it state that companies (brand owners or retailers) supplying crop inputs or ag plastics have an obligation?
Review section 110.3 of the regulation. It states that brand owners or retailers are prohibited from selling, offering for sale or otherwise distributing agricultural plastic products unless they operate an agricultural plastic product stewardship program.
Section 110.1 (c) identifies the agricultural plastic products that are impacted by this regulation.
When does this start?
Section 110.3 of the regulation states that the obligations started December 1, 2022.
Brand owners or retailers are prohibited from selling, offering for sale or otherwise distributing agricultural plastic products unless they operate an agricultural plastic product stewardship program as of December 1, 2022.
Important start dates:
- October 2, 2024: transitional funding for fertilizer bags provided by provincial government wrapped up and new financial obligations began.
- December 2, 2025: transitional funding for ag plastics (e.g. twine, silage/bale wrap and silage bags/bunker covers and tarps) provided by the provincial government will wrap up and new financial obligations will begin.
How do I know that/if…
I’m a retailer and I’m not sure if I need to take on these obligations myself. I buy from company XYZ and resell
Talk to your suppliers. Your suppliers may have already taken on the required obligations on your behalf.
Many Brand Owners are already Cleanfarms members. Review our member page.
If your supplier is listed on our member page, they are likely taking on the regulatory obligations on your behalf.
Retailers who supply fertilizer to farmers in bagged format need to pay special attention. Because fertilizer can be custom blended onsite, retailers often source their own bags for this type of transaction. Retailers are likely best suited to take on the regulatory obligations associated with these types of bags.
I am an ag-retailer and also a collection site for bags and jugs. How does this impact my business?
Ag-retailers meet the definition of a retailer in the regulation. As of December 1, 2022, ag-retailers need to make sure that they are compliant with these obligations.
First, talk to your suppliers.
Most pesticide, seed and liquid fertilizer brand owners are already compliant and have been voluntary financing a program for 30+ years.
This amendment introduces obligations on brand owners/retailers that supply fertilizer in bagged format. This may impact your business and require you, or your supplier, to operate their own program or appoint Cleanfarms to operate a program on your/their behalf.
Talk to Cleanfarms. Call (877-622-4460 ext. 2245) or email Cleanfarms to learn more.
Does joining Cleanfarms allow my business to meet these reg requirements?
The Regulation states that Brand Owners/Retailers must operate a (government approved) agricultural plastic product stewardship program or appoint an agent to operate a (government approved) agricultural plastic product stewardship program.
Review Cleanfarms’ approved Agricultural Plastic Product Stewardship Program and Approval Letter and you will see that Cleanfarms is an appointed agent to operate a (government approved) agricultural plastic product stewardship program.
My suppliers have taken on this obligation on my behalf?
Talk to your suppliers. Most companies that supply pesticides and many companies that supply seeds, inoculants, and ag plastics are taking on these obligations on behalf of their dealer networks through membership in Cleanfarms. View Cleanfarms’ member webpage.
Admin/finance
Why is an EHF or levy necessary?
There is a cost associated with recycling or managing ag plastics or other packaging used in the ag sector. The EHF covers operational costs involved with collecting and transporting materials to end markets along with administration costs.
How will a brand owner/retailer remit these EHF’s or levies to Cleanfarms?
For crop input suppliers, reporting/remitting takes place annually.
For ag plastic suppliers, a reporting/remitting schedule is under development.
More details will be available shortly.
How are EHFs/levies calculated?
Cleanfarms examines each ag plastic that is identified in the regulation.
For each ag plastic, Cleanfarms estimates an annual cost to manage a program to recover this material. The annual cost is then divided by the estimated volume of each material supplied into the market.
Depending on the ag plastic, a levy or EHF is calculated on a per kilogram basis or a per unit basis.
The levies below are in place for 2025.
I’m registered with Cleanfarms to meet my obligations in other regions. What do I do next?
Contact us to make sure that you are properly registered to PEI-based programming.
I am an ag-retailer/seed dealer that acts as a collection site. What do I do next?
Contact us. In all likelihood, your suppliers are already doing their part and taking on the obligations on your behalf.
Do these obligations impact suppliers who do business in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia?
No. The regulation impacts supply into Prince Edward Island only.
Brand Owners/Retailers that supply agricultural plastic products, as outlined in The Regulation are obligated to either operate a (government approved) agricultural plastic product stewardship program, or appoint an agent to operate a (government approved) agricultural plastic product stewardship program like the ones that Cleanfarms delivers.
The information below provides key administrative information aimed at businesses that are required to meet regulatory obligations.
Agricultural Plastics
Bags (seed, pesticide, fertilizer)
Containers: Jugs (under 23L), Totes & Drums
