2 days ago
Farm plastic waste recycling options a 'leap forward for sustainability'
Tonnes of plastic farm waste is being turned into new products with the development of recycling techniques by the agricultural industry and engineering researchers.
Each year, Australian farms go through an estimated 110,000 tonnes of plastic waste, but recycling options for soft plastics and twine in particular are limited.
Key players in Australia's grain industry unveiled a plan earlier this year to stop 45,000 tonnes of agricultural bags from going to landfill or being illegally incinerated.
Researchers at a regional Victorian university have also helped to develop a machine to melt down synthetic hay binding twine and repurpose it into building products and furniture.
An industry-led, not-for-profit program to collect and recycle plastic agricultural bags is underway in Victoria with plans to expand it in the coming years.
The bagMUSTER scheme is similar to the program used for chemical drums, allowing farmers to return their used soft plastic bags to stores for recycling.
CropLife Australia chief executive Matthew Cossey helped develop the program and said the bags used for fertilisers, seeds, grain, stock feed, and pet food are turned into new agricultural products.
"It's a huge leap forward for farm recycling," he said.
"When a farmer buys a product in the bagMUSTER program, they'll be able to return it to the retailer, and then it will be collected and fully recycled. It's as simple as that.
Plastic cords used to bind hay, straw and other crops are often seen piling up in farmers' sheds, contaminated with soil, animal waste and other residues.
Most of the twine ends up in landfill or is burnt on farms.
La Trobe University researchers in Bendigo have helped develop a machine to melt and re-form the twine into useful, durable products.
Engineering Associate Professor Ing Kong said the twine could be turned into garden planters, outdoor furniture, and construction materials such as decking or fence posts.
"There has been no incentive to recycle bale twine because it is a single-use, bulky and contaminated product with dirt, small rocks and such," Dr Kong said.
"But this particular machine, invented by Rtech, can actually take a significant amount of contaminate and still process it."
Dr Kong said the melting machine was much more cost-effective than comparable machines and was designed so it could be used on-farm.
"It can be owned and installed easily by anyone, it's economical, and takes up a small space," she said.
"If a farmer has a constant amount of plastic waste, they can recycle it on site into 1-metre cubes, and have the waste ready to be manufactured either locally or exported."
Australian Seed Federation chief executive Katherine Delbridge said the disposal of plastic waste had long been a pain for farmers.
Ms Delbridge said the cost of disposing seed bags into landfill was prohibitive for many farmers.
"Because there hasn't been a supply chain for this plastic before the frank matter is people have been burying and burning this plastic on-farm."
Agsafe general manager Alicia Garden welcomed the advancements in recycling but said there was still a long way to go.
"About 15,000 tonnes of soft plastic recycling is available across all industries per year — consumer, mining, agriculture. It's a really constrained bottleneck," she said.
"Regulatory change about 18 months ago means that we can't use recycling facilities overseas; we have to recycle here in Australia.
Ms Garden said developers were now looking at ways to recycle other plastic waste on farms, such as silage wrap.
"There is a dedicated facility [for that] being built in Albury, which we expect will be online late this year or early next year," she said.
