The number of fertiliser bags recycled has doubled in the last five years, to the current 1,000t/year level.
Fertiliser bags were collected at over 200 bring-centres in 2022, operated by Farm Plastics Recycling CLG, which is a sister company of IFFPG the national farm plastics recycling scheme. Farmers were charged at the rate of €10 for each half tonne-sized bag filled with fertiliser bag waste delivered to bring-centres, with almost 20,000 bags of waste collected.
There is an estimated recycling rate of 30-35% currently being achieved for this waste stream. The present level of recycling is in line with the current national plastics packaging recycling rate of 34%.
Recent progress can be attributed to a number of factors. They include the relative convenience (the average farmer is six miles from local bring-centre), and cost effectiveness of the bring-centre service, as well as growing environmental awareness among farmers.
In addition, Repak which is the national packaging recycling scheme, is making more funding available for plastic packaging recycling to ensure that a challenging 50% recycling target is met by 2025. Fertiliser suppliers in Ireland currently meet their obligations through Repak membership. This involves paying fees to Repak for every tonne of packaging placed on the Irish market.
In turn, Repak uses this funding to stimulate recycling by subsidising the collection and recycling of plastic packaging. In the case of fertiliser bag recycling, additional Repak funding has been largely used to further increase awareness of the service among farmers.
Key to the success of fertiliser bag recycling is the correct presentation of fertiliser bag plastics at bring-centres. This involves farmers having to segregate the different plastic types into different bags. As bulk fertiliser bags are comprised of two different plastic types, the outer part of the bag (polypropylene) must be separated from the inside line (polyethylene) before presentation at bring-centres.
The small fertiliser bags, which are made of the same plastic as the liners of the bulk fertiliser bags can be presented mixed together at bring-centres.
The manager of IFFPG, Liam Moloney said that “feedback from recyclers confirms that the quality of presentation of fertiliser bag at bring-centres is improving year-on-year and critical to the recycling success of this waste stream”.
All fertiliser bags collected are sent for recycling into a range of new products, including new bags, crates and car parts. In the case of one Irish recycler, IFF Plastics, which is located in west Clare, fertiliser bags are recycled into fence posts, which are sold back to Irish farmers – an excellent example of the circular economy at work.
IFFPG had another exceptionally successful year in 2022 across the range of farm plastic wastes that the scheme manages. In the case of silage wrap and sheeting waste, which accounts for over 95% of all collections, almost 37,000t of waste were recycled and an 88% recycling rate was achieved (equivalent to plastic from 18m bales), while over 1,100t of netting and twine waste were also collected for recovery.
Daire O' Sullivan of FWR Ltd unloading some of the plastic delivered by farmers during the IFFPG farm plastic collection day at Cahir mart, Co Tipperary. \ Donal O' Leary
Fertilizer Association of
Ireland technical publication
The Fertilizer Association of Ireland (FAI) produces its technical publications annually, since its foundation back in 1968. The annual publications are generated and then presented at the FAI spring meetings which are held in February each year, where typically three papers are presented.
In the past, these papers were presented at a winter meeting held in the agricultural faculty in UCD, with the assistance of FAI Council, fertiliser companies, advisory services of AFT/ACOT/Teagasc, UCD, DAFM and oversees research institutions.
On the 50th anniversary of the FAI back in 2018, the council embarked on collecting a full set of scientific publications.
This was completed to the extent of over 95%, with the assistance of past and present FAI members and libraries in UCD and National University of Ireland.
There is now a complete hard copy set of publication in the UCD Library in Belfield.
These papers have also recently been digitised and are fully availably at www.fertiliser-assoc.ie/publications/. This is an enormous source of information to students of agriculture, going back over 56 years, and is used extensively for that purpose. As new publications come to hand, they will also be added to the website.
Technical bulletin series
This year the FAI will launch the 7th publication in their Technical Bulletin Series. This publication entitled Improving Farm Nitrogen Use Efficiency, details a range of steps a farmer can adopt to make the nitrogen they apply go further. This is critically important for the industry as nitrogen fertiliser use has been curtailed and set to be further limited in the future in the Governments Climate Action Plan. By adopting and implementing the measures in the bulletin, farmers can ensure that they maximise the use of the nitrogen that they apply, ensure that productivity will not be impacted, improve the economics and ensure the long term sustainability of the farm. Printed copies of the bulletin will be available by contacting the Fertilizer Association or by downloading a copy from the website.
The number of fertiliser bags recycled has doubled in the last five years, to the current 1,000t/year level.
Fertiliser bags were collected at over 200 bring-centres in 2022, operated by Farm Plastics Recycling CLG, which is a sister company of IFFPG the national farm plastics recycling scheme. Farmers were charged at the rate of €10 for each half tonne-sized bag filled with fertiliser bag waste delivered to bring-centres, with almost 20,000 bags of waste collected.
There is an estimated recycling rate of 30-35% currently being achieved for this waste stream. The present level of recycling is in line with the current national plastics packaging recycling rate of 34%.
Recent progress can be attributed to a number of factors. They include the relative convenience (the average farmer is six miles from local bring-centre), and cost effectiveness of the bring-centre service, as well as growing environmental awareness among farmers.
In addition, Repak which is the national packaging recycling scheme, is making more funding available for plastic packaging recycling to ensure that a challenging 50% recycling target is met by 2025. Fertiliser suppliers in Ireland currently meet their obligations through Repak membership. This involves paying fees to Repak for every tonne of packaging placed on the Irish market.
In turn, Repak uses this funding to stimulate recycling by subsidising the collection and recycling of plastic packaging. In the case of fertiliser bag recycling, additional Repak funding has been largely used to further increase awareness of the service among farmers.
Key to the success of fertiliser bag recycling is the correct presentation of fertiliser bag plastics at bring-centres. This involves farmers having to segregate the different plastic types into different bags. As bulk fertiliser bags are comprised of two different plastic types, the outer part of the bag (polypropylene) must be separated from the inside line (polyethylene) before presentation at bring-centres.
The small fertiliser bags, which are made of the same plastic as the liners of the bulk fertiliser bags can be presented mixed together at bring-centres.
The manager of IFFPG, Liam Moloney said that “feedback from recyclers confirms that the quality of presentation of fertiliser bag at bring-centres is improving year-on-year and critical to the recycling success of this waste stream”.
All fertiliser bags collected are sent for recycling into a range of new products, including new bags, crates and car parts. In the case of one Irish recycler, IFF Plastics, which is located in west Clare, fertiliser bags are recycled into fence posts, which are sold back to Irish farmers – an excellent example of the circular economy at work.
IFFPG had another exceptionally successful year in 2022 across the range of farm plastic wastes that the scheme manages. In the case of silage wrap and sheeting waste, which accounts for over 95% of all collections, almost 37,000t of waste were recycled and an 88% recycling rate was achieved (equivalent to plastic from 18m bales), while over 1,100t of netting and twine waste were also collected for recovery.
Daire O' Sullivan of FWR Ltd unloading some of the plastic delivered by farmers during the IFFPG farm plastic collection day at Cahir mart, Co Tipperary. \ Donal O' Leary
Fertilizer Association of
Ireland technical publication
The Fertilizer Association of Ireland (FAI) produces its technical publications annually, since its foundation back in 1968. The annual publications are generated and then presented at the FAI spring meetings which are held in February each year, where typically three papers are presented.
In the past, these papers were presented at a winter meeting held in the agricultural faculty in UCD, with the assistance of FAI Council, fertiliser companies, advisory services of AFT/ACOT/Teagasc, UCD, DAFM and oversees research institutions.
On the 50th anniversary of the FAI back in 2018, the council embarked on collecting a full set of scientific publications.
This was completed to the extent of over 95%, with the assistance of past and present FAI members and libraries in UCD and National University of Ireland.
There is now a complete hard copy set of publication in the UCD Library in Belfield.
These papers have also recently been digitised and are fully availably at www.fertiliser-assoc.ie/publications/. This is an enormous source of information to students of agriculture, going back over 56 years, and is used extensively for that purpose. As new publications come to hand, they will also be added to the website.
Technical bulletin series
This year the FAI will launch the 7th publication in their Technical Bulletin Series. This publication entitled Improving Farm Nitrogen Use Efficiency, details a range of steps a farmer can adopt to make the nitrogen they apply go further. This is critically important for the industry as nitrogen fertiliser use has been curtailed and set to be further limited in the future in the Governments Climate Action Plan. By adopting and implementing the measures in the bulletin, farmers can ensure that they maximise the use of the nitrogen that they apply, ensure that productivity will not be impacted, improve the economics and ensure the long term sustainability of the farm. Printed copies of the bulletin will be available by contacting the Fertilizer Association or by downloading a copy from the website.
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