Agrecovery recycles used bird netting
The success of a trial with Villa Maria has encouraged leading rural recycling programme Agrecovery to roll out a nationwide recovery programme. The Agrecovery programme has quickly gained the support of crop protection company Scarecrow along with industry organisations such as Hawke’s Bay Wine Growers Association.
Graeme Norton, from Agrecovery programme manager 3R Group, says there was strong interest in the trial from grape growers and others in the industry to support a permanent solution.
“Agrecovery has helped the primary sector improve sustainability a great deal in recent years with the introduction of the agrichemical container and silage wrap recycling programmes and a system for disposing of expired or unwanted chemicals.
“It makes sense for us to look for solutions for other primary sector waste issues and it’s no secret that disposing of crop protection net causes the viticulture industry in particular big problems.
Orchardists also have similar issues with disposal of net used for protecting cherries and other crops.”
Crop protection net is critical to production for both viticulture and many stone fruit crops and can be reused for up to 10 years. However once it reaches the end of its useful life disposal optionsare limited and some councils are now planning to ban disposal at landfill due to problems with net getting caught up in equipment.
“We have had great support from Hawke’s Bay Winegrowers Association and other associations who recognise that net disposal has in the past caused their members huge headaches.
“The wine industry in particular is trying to adopt sustainable practices wherever possible but that’s difficult when there are no options other than burning or dumping. Agrecovery is delighted to provide an alternative,” says Graeme.
Agrecovery launched the net recycling programme in Hawke’s Bay with a one-off collection event for local growers at the start of June.
“There was a huge response to the collection as growers jumped at the opportunity to dispose of years of unwanted net,” says Graeme.
Crop protection company Scarecrow also decided to get firmly behind the programme signing up with Agrecovery to support the net recycling programme.
“We’re proud to be a part of the Agrecovery programme for crop protection netting,” says Sundeep Sapra, business manager for Scarecrow Solutions.
“We believe it is important to take environmental ownership of our products and we were looking at developing our own recycling programme when we started talking to Agrecovery.
With their proven and successful track record with other recycling programmes, we decided to offer Scarecrow’s support to their new initiative.
“Together, Scarecrow and Agrecovery offer a proactive solution for growers and an alternative for councils to ensure that our crop protection nets do not end up in landfills.”
The Agrecovery net recycling programme follows a similar model to that offered to farmers wanting to recycle their used silage wrap: growers simply buy a large recycling bag direct from Agrecovery, either by calling 0800 247 326 or online at www.agrecovery.co.nz. Each bag will hold between 180 and 200kg of net.
Growers fill the recycling bag with crop protection net, having first removed all posts and heavy contamination. Once full, growers contact Agrecovery to book collection of the bag direct from their property.
The Agrecovery net programme is solely for crop protection net made from high density polyethylene (HDPE).
Graeme Norton explains: “We do need growers to be careful about the type of net that they put in the recycling bag. We can only accept HDPE net which is the dominant crop protection type sold into the market. However there is an amount of other product out there such as balage net which was used some time ago as a cheap alternative. Unfortunately we can’t take this non-HDPE product at present as it contaminates the HDPE net and makes it all non-recyclable.
“If growers are unsure of the type of net they have they can simply contact Agrecovery or the company which supplied the net and we’ll help them identify the product.”
Information about the net recycling programme and Agrecovery’s other programmes at www.agrecovery.co.nz or freephone 0800 247 326.