Farmers recycling wraps for hay bales

Aquestion posed in the Sustainable Snippets column on October 16 (Plastic hay bale wrap can now be recycled) has had a response.

Local farmer Mike Black wrote:

“I am replying to your story in Whanganui Midweek re baleage wrap.

“The answer is yes, farmers in the Whanganui region use the Plasback scheme. Plasback collect the bin full of wrap for $45, or we can take it to Palmy.

“I’m farming near Whanganui. I can think of five or six other farmers within 15 minutes of the property I manage. In the wider area, it could be up to 70 per cent of farmers [using the service].

“Of baleage wrap, plastic drench containers, spray containers and twine, I think wrap would be the most popular and easiest to do. Containers need to be triple-rinsed, and still have a label on.

“It’s a lot of work getting them rinsed but well worth it,” Mike says. “We started [the balewrap recycling] this year. The previous farm I was on in

Hunterville, we were doing it for about 12 months [before I left].”

Other farm products that can be recycled are polypropylene bags and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) drums. The collection of surplus drums is free.

Vineyard nets, irrigation pipes, tree guards and polypropylene twine can also be collected by Plasback for a fee.

Recycled materials are made into hardwearing products which can be used on farms. Examples are decking and fencing materials.

Plasback was accredited by the Minister for the Environment under the Waste Minimisation Act 2008.