A new agricultural plastics recycling campaign, partly funded by the Sustainable Initiatives Fund Trust, aimed at Canterbury farmers has recently been launched by Agpac. Agpac are running a new recycling scheme called Plasback – on farm collection of agricultural plastic wastes such as baleage wrap and silage sheets, polypropylene bags and HDPE Drums. The education campaign includes a helpful and instructional brochure for famers showing them how to recycle each type of waste stream which will be mailed to farmers in Canterbury as well as radio and press advertising and is part of the Plasback Product Stewardship Scheme.

Farm feed wrapped in Baleage

This new campaign not only educates farmers on who can take their waste but how to handle it while it is on the farm such as the importance of triple rinsing HDPE drums and not including balenet or twine in the balewrap collection bins. Plasback also offers a recovery programme for the return of 100 and 200L containers for reuse.

The Plasback Product Stewardship scheme for recycling farm plastics will go a long way to helping to clean up Canterbury’s countryside, reduce hazardous toxins and chemicals from the soil (from burying the plastic) and the air (from burning), reducing waste to landfill and recycling the approx. 4000 tonnes of LLDPE (Linear Low Density Polyethylene) used as crop packaging on New Zealand farms each year. The recycled plastic will be turned in pellets that can be reused as new resin stock for plastic production.

For more information on the Plasback Education Campaign visit www.plasback.co.nz.

Office supplies and stationer Corporate Express has a range of different products for organising your files and office stationery with a lower environmental impact as they are made from recycled content. Here is the full range.

The EXP Green range is made from up to 80% recycled polypropylene and includes magazine files, desk sorters, drawer tidies and a waste paper bin (although we hope the paper put inside it gets recycled!).

There is also the “I could have been landfill” range. Made in New Zealand (green marks for this) the pencil tub, desk tidy, magazine file and bins are made from 100% recycled HDPE  (High Density Polyethylene).

And lastly and possibly the best option is the Earth series range which uses 100% recycled and 100% recyclable fibreboard (pre and post consumer waste) to make a magazine file, desk tidy, organiser file, stackable trays and even a CD rack. They look stylish and have been promoted as “strong, durable and biodegradable” as well as being coated in “non-chemical inks”.

Here at SIFT we are very low consumers of office stationery but like to see waste from other soures being used for everyday items that others might use. Here are some pics of the Earth Series range:

Corporate Express Earth Series File Organiser

Corporate Express Earth Series Magazine Holder

Corporate Express Earth Series Multi Document Holder