16 Nov 2020
New scheme to tackle tough problem of plastic waste in agriculture
A new initiative funded by the Federal Government’s National Product Stewardship Investment Fund is set to dramatically reduce plastic waste in agriculture and develop this waste into other resources under the National Waste Policy.
The agricultural plastics stewardship scheme is one of 15 successful projects recently announced by the Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management Trevor Evans. It will be led by agricultural and environmental consultancy RMCG with Queensland horticulture industry body Growcom as a project partner.
The scheme will help to address the extensive use of plastic in the agriculture industry and the current lack of recovery pathways for the material. The variety of plastics used in agriculture is significant and the state of the plastic after use can compromise its capacity for being recycled.
As the cost of labour and transport, and lack of services to recycle agricultural plastics is grossly limiting, most material ends up in landfill at best.
The scheme will facilitate and incentivise a viable market to recycle agricultural plastics that considers on-farm collection logistics, processing technology and equipment and development of recycled plastic products and their markets.
For more information, see our media release.
