Local businesses Farmlands, PGG Wrightson and Ruahehu Farm Supplies are all supporting an Agrecovery Rural Recycling initiative in Taihape on Tuesday 12th November.
The Agrecovery collection event for agrichemical and animal health plastic containers will be held at Farmlands on Linnet Street, between 9am and 4pm, where there will also be a BBQ and prize draw to encourage farmers to bring their containers in.
According to Agrecovery, empty, triple rinsed containers from nearly 60 participating manufacturers of agrichemical, animal health and dairy hygiene products are free to recycle at the three collection days.
“While we have over 70 fixed collection sites across the country it’s simply not possible to have one in every rural centre, so that’s where these collection events come in,” says Duncan Scotland of Agrecovery.
“Our 56 participating manufacturers pay a levy to allow farmers to recycle their containers for free so we really hope farmers will throw their triple rinsed empties into the ute, grab something from the BBQ, but most importantly make the most of recycling to avoid unnecessarily burning or dumping plastic.”
“If we get a good response we aim to make it a regular event.”
Agrecovery will have a mobile processing truck on site at Farmlands shredding the containers which are brought in for recycling. These are then processed in Auckland or Christchurch, with one of the common uses for the recycled plastic being an underground cable cover.
“Last financial year, we collected enough containers to make a 15cm wide cable cover reaching from Auckland to Invercargill and back,” says Duncan.
“It’s a great solution for a product which is too often burned or dumped; it supports New Zealand’s clean green image; and best of all it’s free for containers from our participating brand owners.”
To recycle through this event, containers must be empty and triple rinsed, clear of chemical residue and dirt inside and out, and up to and including 60 litres in size. All containers will be inspected before being accepted. View the list of participating brand owners and full acceptance criteria here or by calling 0800 247 326.
Permanent Agrecovery container collection sites around the region are also located in Ohakune, Marton, Feilding and Wanganui. Full details are available here.
For containers from non-participating brand owners user pays stickers are available on the day or on the Agrecovery website.