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AGRICULTURAL PLASTICS 



How Do We Dispose of Them? 



Bruce A. Marriott 



-ixs the use of agricultural plastics 

 continues to increase, it becomes 

 more and more important to look 

 at how these materials will 

 ultimately be disposed. Too often 

 used plastic has been piled 

 somewhere on the back forty 

 where it begins to breakdown and 

 blow around. In other cases, users 

 have attempted to dispose of it 

 through conventional waste dis- 

 posal techniques and found that it 

 can no longer be taken to the 

 town dump. How the public per- 

 ceives our disposal methods is also 

 important and there is a growing 

 interest in having more waste 

 products recycled. 



Can horticultural plastics be 

 recycled? 



Yes, they can be recycled— but 

 there are limitations. The plastics 

 with the most potential for 

 recycling include nursery con- 

 tainers, plastic pots, greenhouse 

 film, and possibly trickle irrigation 

 tubing. Is the disposal of these 

 materials a problem? Well, only 

 your local grower knows for sure, 

 but a recent survey of 600 growers 

 in nine states conducted by the 

 Eastern Regional Nurserymen's 

 Association came to the conclusion 

 that pots were not a problem, but 

 sheet poly definitely was. 



What's happening in 

 New England? 



There are currently several com- 

 panies in New England that are 

 willing to buy recycled greenhouse 

 film. They do need significant 

 quantities, however, and this pre- 

 sents a problem for small growers. 

 They also prefer the material 

 baled. Mulch films are not being 

 commercially recycled at this time, 

 because they are contaminated 

 with soil and plant debris. This 

 contamination can be as much as 

 65 percent of the weight and 

 makes recycling unfeasible. 



The American Society for 

 Plasticulture (formerly National 

 Agricultural Plastics Association) 

 and the Eastern Regional Nur- 

 serymen's Association both have 

 committees looking at the issues 

 of plastic disposal and recycling. 

 This activity will probably result in 

 more opportunities for growers in 

 the future. It may be that dis- 

 tributors will need to play a role 

 by providing recovery points or 

 collection centers for used poly. 

 John Bartok, an agricultural 

 engineer at UConn, has been 

 working with a large nursery in 

 Granby, Connecticut, to develop a 

 technique for preparing green- 

 house covers for recycling. This 

 nursery has 250 acres of over- 

 wintering structures. They slit the 

 plastic along the attachments, then 

 about every 100 feet along the 

 houses. These strips of film are 

 then fed into a hay baler. The 

 resuking 50-60 pound bales are 

 then loaded onto a box trailer 

 which can hold about 35,000 

 pounds. These trailer loads are 

 then marketed through a dealer in 

 Massachusetts that ships the plas- 

 tic to China. Prices for clean, baled 

 greenhouse film are currently 

 about 2 to 6 cents per pound. 



Can we recycle in 

 New Hampshire? 



Since the horticultural industry in 

 New Hampshire is much smaller, 

 the logistics of marketing used 

 horticultural plastic for recycling is 

 not in place at this time. It might 

 not be too difficult, however, for 

 our New Hampshire growers to 

 borrow a baler from a neighboring 

 farmer. If enough growers were 

 interested, it might make sense to 

 try and coordinate a truck load. 

 UNH Cooperative Extension is 

 interested in exploring this 

 possibility with some growers. If 

 you have an interest, contact me 

 or one of our Extension Educators 

 and we'll see if we can get a group 

 together to look at the 

 possibilities. 



AU 



What other disposal options 

 exist? 



Incineration is a common method 

 of disposal in some parts of the 

 country and it appears to be an 

 option for some areas of New 

 Hampshire. There are currently 

 three waste-to-energy plants lo- 

 cated in Durham, Penacook and 

 Claremont. These incinerators 

 burn waste to produce steam for 

 heating or electrical generation. 

 Although these plants could re- 

 cover some of the energy in the 

 plastic, there is a cost or "tippin 

 fee" involved. 



A few towns still allow residents to 

 place bulky waste in existing 

 landfills. This might be the 

 cheapest disposal option where 

 available. In the more urbanizing 

 areas, the easiest method might be 

 to contract with a waste disposal 

 firm which would charge you to 

 take it to an approved landfill or 

 incinerator. 



John Bartok tells me that some 

 smaller growers in Connecticut are 

 cutting their used plastic film into 

 smaller pieces and giving it away 

 to retail customers who use it in 

 their gardens. While this option 

 does not solve the ultimate dis- 

 posal problem, at least the film is 

 being used to its maximum. 

 Each user of agricultural plastics 

 has an obligation to see that this 

 material is ultimately disposed of 

 in a responsible and legal manner. 

 Responsible action can head off 

 unreasonable regulations in the 

 future and maintain the good 

 public perception that this industry 

 currently has. 



Bruce A. Marriott is Program 

 Leader, Agricultural Resources, 

 UNH Cooperative Extension. He's 

 at Taylor Hall. UNH, Durham, NH 

 03824. Until last April, he was 

 Extension Educator, Belknap 

 County, and Team Leader for the 

 Solid Waste Issue, UNH 

 Cooperative Extension. He can be 

 reached at (603) 862-1928. ^ 



GUST/SEPTEMBER 1991 15 



