(submitted photo/Cleanfarms)

By Alice McFarlane

Agriculture recycling

Saskatchewan farmers embrace recycling

Apr 26, 2019 | 5:03 PM

Cleanfarms is calling on farmers to recycle 100 per cent of their used agriculture plastic jugs. Currently, about 65 per cent of the smaller plastic containers are recovered.

Cleanfarms General Manager Barry Friesen said it’s a big ask but farmers in this province are already doing a good job.

“Almost two million fertilizer and pesticide containers, Saskatchewan is our largest province for collections in all of Canada,” Friesen said. “Overall, last year that number was up by 14 per cent so we’re very pleasantly surprised and encouraged by the increase in containers we’ve been collecting. It speaks to the fact that farmers really get it.”

Freisen said there has also been a good response to the grain bag recycling program.

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“We calculated we collected about one third of all the grain bags that were supplied in the province. This year we had a tremendous increase this year in the number of grain bags collected,” Freisen said.

The crop protection industry spearheaded a voluntary stewardship program on the prairies 30 years ago to collect agricultural plastics.

Cleanfarms has expanded the program across Canada bringing in a total of about 126 million plastic jugs that have been recycled into new products instead of disposed in landfills.

Freisen said farmers make their living from the land and they want to leave it in as good or even better condition then when they got it.

“Farmers recognize the value of stewardship and the value of resources,” Freisen said. “We’re very encouraged. Saskatchewan farmers in particular are very, very concerned to make sure they do the right thing. All they needed was the tools to do the job.”

More than 1,000 ag-retail and municipal collection sites across the country recovered nearly 5.8 million containers.

Recovered agricultural plastics are recycled into new products such as farm drainage tile, flexible irrigation pipe and garbage bags.

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alice.mcfarlane@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @AliceMcF