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Author Topic: End of farm plastic waste burning  (Read 6184 times)

Rupert the bear

  • Joined Jun 2015
End of farm plastic waste burning
« on: October 13, 2018, 02:36:40 pm »
With the ending of the on farm burning of plastics exemption at the end of this year how do you propose to dispose of your plastic waste ie ; feed sacks, silage.
 and net wrap  ?

Considering the relatively small amounts produced by us smallholder / crofters and the cost of a  collection service, would you take the option of delivering it to a recycler or collection site yourself at your own expense,  or would your make an alternative arrangement such as returning the feed sacks for reuse by the originator or finding a suitable re purposing route . Or just bung it in the wheelie bin !
Bearing in mind you would have to provide traceability of the plastics disposal should SEPA come calling

As an aside , in the oil industry the practice of returning the packaging to vendors marked as reusable materials is gaining popularity as it saves sending it back as waste with licensing  implications and of course the oil co's saving on waste disposal costs.

( some bloke on a croft came up with this idea )

SEPA info leaflet

https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/371984/farm_plastics_info_leaflet.pdf

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2018, 03:17:59 pm »
The new legislation has been a long time coming, but is very welcome.  Perhaps it will cut down on trees, fences and hedges being draped with ragged black plastic, and clouds of thick roiling black smoke clogging our lungs when our neighbour burns his bale wrap.


We don't use black wrap, but we do have garden plastic mesh, polythene and frost fleece, but not much of it.  I am about to contact the gardening industry (maybe Monty Don or a gardening magazine ? Those who sell the stuff?) about their suggestions for recycling.


The plastic waste we have from the smallholding is mainly plastic feed sacks and licky buckets.  Both of these are easy to re-use.  Crystalix buckets are great for disinfectant foot dip ,storing spare bike engine parts, books, and for growing successional carrots and salads in.  Plastic feed sacks get used for all sorts of things, including filling with rubbish for collection, covering weeds, storing kindling.  Any left over of both sacks and buckets have a ready clientelle amongst non farmers for their own storage and waste disposal.
So it's just the plastic sheeting from our garden which continues to be a problem.
« Last Edit: October 13, 2018, 03:21:17 pm by Fleecewife »
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Backinwellies

  • Global Moderator
  • Joined Sep 2012
  • Llandeilo Carmarthenshire
    • Nantygroes
    • Facebook
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2018, 07:31:44 am »
The new legislation has been a long time coming, but is very welcome.  Perhaps it will cut down on trees, fences and hedges being draped with ragged black plastic, and clouds of thick roiling black smoke clogging our lungs when our neighbour burns his bale wrap.

Cant see it making any difference around here …. our local 'dirty farmer' seems to get away with everything and is still 'Farm assured' !!
Linda

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bj_cardiff

  • Joined Feb 2017
  • Carmarthenshire
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #3 on: October 14, 2018, 07:46:37 am »
I think people here inn wales will just carry on as before.

I think its a shame that feed suppliers don't have bins on sire for use. I would happily take all feed bags back for recycling when I go to buy more feed.

Clarebelle

  • Joined Jan 2013
  • Orkney
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #4 on: October 14, 2018, 08:38:16 am »
I would have liked to have seen some infrasturucture put in place to enable disposal/recycling or these things before the legislation changed. I know burning this sort of waste is far from ideal but living on an outer island up here, I wonder how farmers are actually going to be able to get rid of this waste properly? As another smallholder it won't affect me, like fleecewife, i tend to reuse these bags and buckets for other things but on a farm scale that would be impossible. I just havn't heard anyone saying 'Ok, come Jan you can't burn that waste. Instead, here is what you have to do to dispose of it...'

Scotsdumpy

  • Joined Jul 2012
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2018, 09:33:45 am »
I don't think it will stop plastic blowing around or dirty farmers not clearing it away properly - it will have to be stored on site until collection or disposal which could exacerbate the problem. What needs to happen to stop all plastic pollution is to put a value on it - imagine how quickly the oceans would be cleared if the plastic suddenly was worth it's weight in gold! I'm surprised that there isn't a method to return this stuff to it's base ingredient - oil or it can't be burned to create heat for electricity. Back to more local problems - I see it as another way to put smallholders out of 'business' as we will be the ones taken to task - not the bigger farmers!

Rupert the bear

  • Joined Jun 2015
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2018, 10:31:14 am »
I'm surprised that there isn't a method to return this stuff to it's base ingredient - oil or it can't be burned to create heat for electricity.
But there is,  Pyrolysis is the method and  Pyrolysis plants are an established way of turning plastic into fuel. The main reason that you dont see them about is the supply  and storageof raw material , our local authority refused PP on the basis that the odd bit of plastic might blow about on the industrial estate

I think people here inn wales will just carry on as before.

I think its a shame that feed suppliers don't have bins on sire for use. I would happily take all feed bags back for recycling when I go to buy more feed.
  I agree 100% it needs the suppliers to play ball.
The thing is as I understand it from our local SEPA girl they would include not just the farmers but smallholders, crofters and food manufacturers / processors.


sabrina

  • Joined Nov 2008
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2018, 08:05:01 pm »
Its all very well saying don't burn it but what is going to happen with all the bags and buckets plus wrap. Landfill or is this just another way of taxing us to get rid of it ?

Scotsdumpy

  • Joined Jul 2012
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #8 on: October 14, 2018, 08:50:11 pm »
Sabrina, we got a letter from Sepa and it says there are 'schemes' to join . I haven't checked the prices yet for our 20 odd hayledge wraps. I think any vehicle coming to collect would have a worse environmental impact than the odd bonfire...

sabrina

  • Joined Nov 2008
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #9 on: October 16, 2018, 06:11:51 pm »
We got so fed up with the change in rubbish collection that we gave up puting our bins out. Paper days, there was more all over the roads due to winds than they got into the bin. We don't take cardboard etc. Food waste day, the badgers had that as the bin had to be put out the night before due to early collection. As we have to take all our glass and tins to Macduff ourselfs ( a round trip of 16 miles ) we just take it all. I compost what I can. My dustbin has not been emptied by the bin men for more than 2 /3 years.  I have been burning the feed bags some of which are paper but not all. I can see more just being dumped.

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #10 on: October 16, 2018, 07:22:14 pm »
I’m rather surprised to read all these comments.

In Cumbria / Northumberland we had Solway Recycling.  The did on-farm collection plus advertised dates on which they’d pick up from marts etc.

Down here I soon found B&B Contractors.  They have farm-sized schemes, large smallholder-sized schemes, small smallholder-sized shemes, or you can take a dumpy bag in for £15.

Have I just been lucky?
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

Rupert the bear

  • Joined Jun 2015
Re: End of farm plastic waste burning
« Reply #11 on: October 16, 2018, 09:29:18 pm »
I’m rather surprised to read all these comments.

In Cumbria / Northumberland we had Solway Recycling.  The did on-farm collection plus advertised dates on which they’d pick up from marts etc.

Down here I soon found B&B Contractors.  They have farm-sized schemes, large smallholder-sized schemes, small smallholder-sized shemes, or you can take a dumpy bag in for £15.

Have I just been lucky?
In a nutshell, yes you have.




 

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