Recycling plastics
Recycling keeps irrigation plastics out of landfills Grapple-hook trucks make field prep easy for the farmer and pickup turnaround time fast. Photo credit: The Toro Company
For decades, irrigation has helped farmers produce higher yields of better quality using fewer resources. But at the end of its lifecycle, many irrigation plastics need to be recycled. Until recently, most recycled drip tapes, polytube and driplines were placed in landfills, shipped elsewhere or buried on farms. Farmers pay upwards of hundreds of dollars an acre for disposal in landfills, an increasingly unsustainable alternative. Clearly a better solution was needed.
Recycling programs such as those offered by Toro Micro-Irrigation and Delta Plastics have been positively impacting the environment by collecting and recycling used irrigation tubing.
In one recycling service, the Ag Plastic Pickup mobile app offers “ridesharing” for ag plastic. Farmers use the mobile app to conveniently schedule their plastic pickup service in a few easy steps. They simply upload a photo of the plastic to be recycled, drop a pin on the location and then press submit to schedule a pickup time. It’s really that simple. Farmers also have the option to order pickups by phone or email as well.
22 Irrigation TODAY | October 2017
The state-of-the-art equipment and logistical support of the service further simplifies recycling for farmers. The fleet of nimble grapple-hook trucks enables field access so that farmers can make multiple piles in-field rather than trying to self- transport plastic to one big pile. Thus, field prep is made easy, and pickup turnaround time is fast.
Once at the recycling facility, the plastic is processed into post-consumer resin [PCR] to produce trash can liners and other agricultural and construction sheeting products that are certified as ECOLOGO, a
UL environmental certification. As a result, spent ag plastics are always wanted and are never turned away due to the fluctuating international PCR prices that traditional recyclers/waste haulers are dependent upon. In addition, local jobs are created, the need for virgin resins is reduced, and a sustainable business model is created.
In one company alone, each year over 150 million pounds of material is recycled through its operations in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri and parts of Texas. In addition to polytubing, other agriculture plastics are recycled
Irrigation plastics are recycled into plastic resin pellets.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
