Seeds of change
A proposed recycling levy on commonly used polyethylene woven seed sacks and bags is likely to come into effect next year.
On-farm recycling company Plasback says for the sixth year in a row the tonnage of plastic waste it collected has increased significantly, proving that voluntary product stewardship schemes can work.
Plasback runs a nationwide network of on-farm collectors and baling plants to recycle agricultural plastic, including silage wrap, vine nets, polypropylene bags and twine, and Ecolab and FIL 100 and 200 litre HDPE drums.
Plasback manager Chris Hartshorne says for year ending June 30, 2013 year the company collected 869.2 tonnes of waste plastic. This amounts to a 28% increase from the 677.7 tonnes they collected the previous year.
"We are very pleased that growing numbers of farmers make the effort to responsibly dispose of their used plastic," Hartshorne says.
"The industry still has a very long way to go, however. We estimate that farmers acquire more than 4000 tonnes of plastic each year so we are still only recycling about a fifth of the total.
"We are encouraged by the continued acceptance of our voluntary product stewardship scheme but unfortunately we are still seeing too much plastic burnt and buried on farms. In parts of New Zealand it is still legal to burn or bury agricultural plastic, so in essence we are competing against the cost of a box of matches."
Some farmers send their plastic waste to landfills. But Hartshorne says the trouble with this is that landfill taxes are still very low in New Zealand by world standards. If landfill costs were to rise and this was passed on to farmers, it would not be an attractive solution, he says.
"There are growing concerns among regional councils and the public about this issue. We think it is only a matter of time before some sort of product stewardship scheme for farm plastic is mandatory if voluntary schemes like ours do not meet the expectations of Government."
Fonterra has cemented its position as the country’s number one cheesemaker by picking up nine NZ Champion of Cheese trophies this year.
New Zealand dairy processors are welcoming the Government’s commitment to continuing to push for Canada to honour its trade commitments.
An educational programme, set up by Beef + Land New Zealand, to connect farmers virtually with primary and intermediate school students has reported the successful completion of its second year.
The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed a resolution adopted by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly to declare 2026 International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Waikato herd health veterinarian Katrina Roberts is the 2024 Fonterra Dairy Woman of the Year.
Horticulture NZ chief executive Nadine Tunley will step down in August.
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