Recycling pilot program tackles agricultural waste

By Janet Kanters Times Editor

Alberta Agriculture and Forestry is helping fund a three-year pilot program that will recycle agricultural plastics.
The Alberta Beef Producers will receive $750,000 to coordinate the pilot program on behalf of the Agricultural Plastics Recycling Group (APRG). APRG is made up of 20 stakeholder groups ranging from commodity associations to rural municipalities to retailers.
The Alberta Agricultural Plastics Recycling Pilot Program is aimed at recycling grain bags and twine, researching markets for other agricultural plastics not included in the pilot program, conducting a waste characterization study to determine agricultural plastic volumes, surveying producers to get feedback, and educating producers on the program and how to recycle their plastics.
The pilot will determine the financials, logistics and operations of recycling agricultural plastics that could help inform a future policy solution to the issue.
A Government of Alberta study in 2012 revealed that around 50 per cent of agricultural producers were burning their agricultural plastics on-farm. Sending plastics to a landfill was also a common method of disposing of agricultural plastics.
Saskatchewan ran a pilot program from 2011 to 2017 and is now operating the first regulated recycling program in Canada for grain bags. Alberta’s pilot program includes both grain bags and twine.