New study tracks agricultural plastics across Canada, with goal of more recycling

A new study from Cleanfarms has tracked how much plastic packaging and plastic products are currently being used in Canadian agriculture, with the goal of eventually recycling all of it.

Cleanfarms is a non-profit groupwhosemembers includes manufacturers and retailers of products used on farms, from pest control to medications, fertilizers and seed.

"One of the key things is that you can't manage what you don't measure," said Cleanfarms executive director Barry Friesen.

"We need to know how much is being generated, where it's being generated, and then we can develop the programs to collect it, as well as work with recyclers that will be able to recycle this material."

National benchmark

The new report documents how much of theplastic materials are generated by sector and by region across the country.

It estimates that Canadian farmers use nearly 62,000 tonnes of ag plastic products and packaging annually, more than half of that on the Prairies.

Friesen said Cleanfarms currently collects about 6,000 tonnes of ag plastics annually through its existing programs, up from about 2,000 tonnes in 2015.

He said the goal is to keep that percentage growing.

"We're currently collecting about 10 per cent of the agricultural plastics that are being generated across Canada, and five to 10 years from now, I would like to see us collecting at least 50, 60 per cent of that, if not more," Friesen said.

"That first 10 percent was was tough to do. We're collecting some of the most difficult plastics out there, sometimes related to chemicals and the like. So there's a lot of health, safety and handling required around that," Friesen said.

"But it certainly can be done. And I think the world has indicated that they want us to do that."

Zero plastic waste

Friesen said Cleanfarms had a general idea of how much wastewas generated, because itscontainer recycling program has been around since 1989.

But he said there are new types of plastic products that didn't exist then, such as grain bags, as well as plastic being used in newer industries, such as cannabis production.

He said for Prince Edward Island specifically they wanted to know how muchbale wrap, and twine and netting was being used.

Friesen said the ultimate goal for Cleanfarms is zero plastic waste in agriculture.

"Plastic is a wonderful material. It's a tool that farmers can use to increase their yields and help store materials better, but at the end of the day, it has to be managed," Friesen said.

"Burning or burying is not the answer. And so that's what our goal is, to ensure that every last piece of plastic can be collected and be properly managed."

Friesen said manyof the existing programs operated by Cleanfarms are offered by manufacturers stepping forward voluntarily to operate a program.

But he said it is going to take government policies to increase the amount of agricultural plastic being diverted away from the landfill or incinerator.

"What we call extended producer responsibility regulation, which is regulation that makes the manufacturers or importers of the products responsible for setting up the program to do it," Friesen said.

"We've already started to do it in other provinces, and is what will likely happen in P.E.I."

Friesen said P.E.I. has a high participation rate for the programs that Cleanfarms operates, and he expects any new recycling programs on P.E.I. to have a similar uptake.

The 18-month research project was funded in part by Environment and Climate Change Canada.

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