The Plasback on-farm recycling scheme has celebrated its 10th anniversary on a high note.
In the past year it had collected more waste plastic than ever, completed its nationwide collection service, and support for rural recycling had grown among farmers and regional councils, manager Chris Hartshorne said.
In the 2015-2016 season almost 100 tonnes more was collected than in 2014-2015.
"We collected 1822 tonnes of silage wrap and other plastic last year. This is phenomenally higher than the 10 tonnes we collected in our first year, or the 480 tonnes we collected in our fifth year," he said.
"In total, over the past decade we have collected and recycled 7269 tonnes of waste plastic that would have otherwise been burned or buried."
He quoted a German study showing that every tonne of agricultural film that was recycled removed the equivalent of 1273kg of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.
In its decade of operation Plasback had eliminated 9250 tonnes of CO2, the amount bound by 1.27 million trees.
Plasback had built up a national network of contractors to collect plastic from farms, Mr Hartshorne saying as the volumes had grown, the service had become more efficient.
"When more farmers book to have their plastic collected, our contractors can schedule more frequent runs to pick it up. We are proud of the fact that by increasing efficiencies, we have not had to raise the cost of an on-farm collection at all in 10 years," he said.
"We have also made it much easier for our customers to book a collection on-line through our website or our free-phone line. In the past when someone called our free-phone number they came through to our central office in Christchurch. Now each call is directed straight to the local contractor, who is familiar with the area."
Two more balers had been commissioned, in Taranaki and Southland, making six around the country.
Meanwhile there was growing awareness of the need for farmers to recycle a range of products, not just plastic, led by regional councils.
Canterbury and Southland had banned burning plastic, and Environment Canterbury was working with the Ministry of the Environment on a rural waste minimisation strategy that, when finished, would be rolled out nationwide.