The scheme was originally launched as a trial investigating the best way to collect and recycle the wet, dirty plastic and give farmers an alternative to burning or burying the waste. It has received funding from plastic recycler Plasmega, Recycling Consortium, and Cory Environmental as well as the Environment Agency and also by charging 10 per tonne collection fee.
In the winter farmers start to use the forage they have set down over the summer, leading to an accumulation of the black plastic sheeting so the scheme is now looking to get more farmers involved. In Gloucestershire, 2,000 tonnes of plastics waste is produced by the county's 7,000 farms each year and the scheme hopes to be able to recycle 500 tonnes of that.
Harvey Bradshaw, Environment Agency manager for Lower Severn, said: “The management of farm plastics is an area of major concern to the Agency and representatives of farming and industry. The time of year means that plastics will again start to build up on farms and therefore the scheme represents an attractive solution to this growing problem.”
The plastics are collected in a typical refuse collection vehicle, which can compact the plastics and squeeze out excess water. Gloucestershire-based Plasmega has agreed to take the material which it is turning into items such as fence posts, building aggregate, pipes and drain covers.
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