Canadian husbandman / producer continue to demonstrate their consignment to control empty ag - product containers used for pesticides and fertilizer are returned for recycling .
Cleanfarms , the national stewardship organization that develops and operates programs to help producers deal on - farm agricultural waste material , just release the recuperation rate for 2021 for ag packaging of various type that is collected for recycling or safe disposition .
The flagship program recovers empty fictile jug 23L and smaller that fork out ag pesticides and fertiliser to producers . In 2021 , Fannie Farmer returned more than three - quarters of the container sold into the marketplace , more than 2.25 million kilograms , edge up the three - year roll average recovery rate to 77 % .

The recycling recuperation charge per unit has soared since 2011 , when it was 69 % . In 2019 , it was 71 % , and in 2020 , it was 76 % , suggest that manufacturer extend to look for ways they can manage on - farm waste materials in an environmentally appropriate manner .
The convalescence charge per unit measures the per centum of container gather for recycling compared to the number of containers sold into the market in that class . The three - year rolling average recuperation rate even out out the rate over three year , take into circumstance factors that could do variations , such as differing needs due to atmospheric condition .
“ Empty charge plate jugs are n’t the only ag container producers are reuse , ” order Cleanfarms Executive Director Barry Friesen . “ They are work back several crucial items used on farms for recycling – like empty non - deposit bulk drums and tote , too . This recycling broadcast for bulk container is newer , only a few years honest-to-goodness . By repay them for recycling , Fannie Farmer are ensuring the plastic in both small and larger containers is used to make new products in a circular thriftiness . We are grateful that producer are responding to the programs in such a positive way . ”

In 2021 , James Leonard Farmer pass 54 % of the bulk container trade in the market , or more than 71,000 drums and totes . That ’s an increase from 50 % in 2019 and 52 % in 2020 .
Cleanfarms also manoeuver a texture bag recycling program in Saskatchewan establish under the province ’s The Agricultural Packaging Product Waste Stewardship Regulations ( 2016 ) . When it got underway in 2018 , it was the only government activity - shape extended producer obligation program of its kind in Canada . Since then , Manitoba has established industry responsibility ( call drawn-out producer responsibility ) on caryopsis bags and string , and PEI has done so on a diverseness of ag plastic . In June 2022 , the Québec government publish a unexampled regulation that point all agricultural plastics . Cleanfarms is control pilots in Alberta to accumulate info on grain purse recycling recovery patterns .
Collecting used grain bags in Saskatchewan is growing year over twelvemonth . In 2018 , Cleanfarms recovered 1,257 tonnes of texture bag plastic . In 2021 , the rolling three - year average recycling recovery pace was 64 % , representing more than 2,100 MT of used plastic grain bags .
In eastern Canada , Fannie Farmer also return seed and pesticide handbag for safe disposal , as recycling market are not available yet . Producers in Quebec also riposte fertilizer bag . In 2017 , when the recovery program got afoot in earnest , the three - year recovery charge per unit was 22 % . In 2021 , it top 38 % . Pilots are afoot in the prairies to sum seed , pesticide , and inoculant bag recuperation there , too .
“ Cleanfarms ’ recycling program are like the ‘ blue boxful ’ or ‘ dark udder ’ for growers . We are working every day to discover better ways to deliver these programs conveniently and efficiently to producer so that more of these material can be returned to be repurposed in the circular economic system , ” Friesen said .
Materials recovered through Cleanfarms ’ programs are sue by small-scale and large companies within North America to shape recycled plastic pellets and flakes that are recycle into novel product such as farm drainage tile , dimensional baseball bat , lawn edging , and agricultural film charge plate .
For more data : Cleanfarms400 - 10 Four Seasons PlaceEtobicoke , ON Canada M9B 6H71 877 622 4460[email protected]cleanfarms.ca