Defra publishes long-awaited farm films proposals

The consultation, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales, outlines two potential approaches to introducing producer responsibility for farm films – or non-packaging agricultural plastics – such as silage wrap and crop covers.

It also details staged targets for collecting the 83,000 tonnes of waste farm films that arise in the UK each year, starting at 40% in 2012, moving to 60% in 2013 and 70% in 2014, before the eventual 80% goal. At the moment, only 20% of the material is recycled.

The two producer responsibility systems suggested in the consultation, alongside a do-nothing option which Defra claims would only increase the recycling rate to 35% by 2015, are:

• producer responsibility with on-farm collection;
• producer responsibility with collection points.

Both these options would involve the introduction of a compliance scheme system similar to those in place for WEEE and packaging, with producers and importers of farm films being required to join an “exemption scheme”.

These would be tasked with meeting their obligations for collecting and recycling the material, based on the amount (in weight terms) of it they place on the market.

Delays 

The consultation was originally expected to be published in 2008 but was subject to a series of delays, with many expecting it to be published in October 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story) .

And, announcing the proposals, which are out for consultation until February 22, 2010, recycling minister Dan Norris acknowledged that there had calls from many farmers for a system to address farm film recycling for “many years”.

He added: “Every industry has a responsibility to minimise their environmental impact and our proposals would help deal with this type of waste in a much more sustainable way.”

On-farm collection

In the consultation document, Defra said that the costs of operating the on-farm collection option as a means of increasing the recycling rate to 80% by 2015 made it “more difficult to recommend” than using collection points.

It claimed that using on-farm collection, which would involve collectors acting on behalf of the exemption schemes collecting waste farm films directly from farmers, would actually cost the UK £175.4 million over 11 years, largely in relation to scheme approval and subsistence costs.

And, it explained that the cost would be passed onto end-users, estimating that the cost of farm films would increase by between 26% and 39% by 2016.

Collection points

The proposed system outlined using collection points would involve exemption schemes setting up their own networks of sites where waste farm films would be accepted by a collector and transported to a reprocessor on behalf of the scheme.

Defra explained that the sites “could be either permanent sites, or mobile sites, such as a site set up at or close to a farmers market on market day or livestock market to enable farmers to combine disposing of their waste with other activities”.

The document also proposes minimum provisions for collection points, as well as provisions for farmers to request on-farm collection if their nearest collection point is more than 25 miles away.

Schemes

Defra revealed that it expected three exemptions schemes to be approved, with three-yearly approval periods but yearly scrutiny of their operational plans, outlining how they plan to meet their members' obligations.

Proposed costs for schemes include a £20,000 application charge and then a £98,000 annual subsistence charge.