It's a wrap as more farmers embrace recycling

FARMERS in Taranaki have made a big step towards getting major rural waste problem all wrapped up.
In the past 12 months, they have recycled enough plastic silage wrap to stretch from New Plymouth to Hawera and back more than 20 times.
That's a big increase on efforts in the two previous seasons, and the effort is being hailed as excellent news for the environment.
An estimated 50 tonnes of wrap has been recycled since the end of 2007, about half of it through a scheme run by Agpac through four Taranaki contractors, and the other half by Egmont Refuse in Hawera. The bulk of the wrap was returned during the 2008 winter feeding-out season, and is three to four times the total in the previous two season.
Agpac's Chris Hartshorne says one tonne equates to 60 km of bale wrap, giving a total of 3,000 km for Taranaki's effort in the past year.
The Taranaki Regional Council's Director-Environment Quality, Gary Bedford, says recycling is a far better option for disposing of bale wrap than the traditional burning or burying, both of which present environmental problems.
"Burning plastic releases toxic fumes, while buried plastic rarely stays put unless it is tightly packed and buried deep. And we appreciate that burial can be an irksome task for farmers.
"Once it works its way back to the surface, plastic tends to be dispersed by the wind and can end up disfiguring and blocking waterways, damaging plants and harming stock, birds, pets or other animals," he says. "It's good to see it disappearing back out of the region instead."
Although farmers in Taranaki have made an encouraging start, Mr Bedford says the issue is a large one. At an estimated 320,000 km, the amount of silage wrap used in New Zealand each year would go around the world eight times.
"We're sure farmers understand the importance of dealing with this, and we look forward to more taking advantage of the recycling options available in Taranaki."
Under the Agpac scheme, containers are provided to collect plastic waste, especially bale wrap. Farmers can buy a bin ($480 + GST) and liners ($15 + GST), then either drop off the full liner ($20 + GST charge) or arrange to have it collected ($40 + GST).
Contractors delivering the Agpac service in Taranaki are:
" Ken Moratti (Inglewood 06 756 8066, 027 443 4858)
" Mark Hinton (Stratford 06 765 6668)
" Barry Taunt (Stratford 06 762 2890, 021 139 9875)
" Michael Silson (Kaponga 06 764 6222)
For more information on the Agpac recycling scheme, see www.agpac.co.nz.