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CleanFarms- Ag Forward Newsletter- February 2023
"Recycling agricultural plastic pesticide and fertilizer containers 23L and under – a familiar practice to many Alberta farmers – is being updated.
At the request of the Agricultural Service Boards (ASB) that have been offering jug collection services in Alberta, CleanFarms is moving recycling collection locations from municipalities to local ag retailers. The process is being phased in throughout the province over three years. Using ag retailers as recycling collection depots is already in place for empty 23L to 1000L pesticide and fertilizer drums and totes.
“Our plan is to have every ag retailer that sells crop inputs in under 23 litre containers accept those empty jugs to ensure farmers have the same or better access to recycling them,” says Barry Friesen, Executive Director of CleanFarms. “Farmers will be able to return empty jugs to the point of purchase, which makes sense since they visit those locations multiple times a year.”
Updating the recycling collection process in Alberta started in 2022 following a request from the ASBs to Alberta Environment and Protected Areas (AEPA) and CleanFarms to transition the 23L and under empty container recycling program from municipal depots.
The gradual process of moving away from municipal transfer stations and landfills began in mid-2022 with municipal collection sites that historically had no or low collection rates. More municipal locations will close their collection sites this year, as ag retailer collection sites open up. The entire update process will be completed by the end of 2024."
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