There will be approximately 225 bring-centres available for farmers to recycle their farm plastic from 1 May through to early August this year.

Farmers are reminded that not only is silage plastic accepted, but netting, manure bags and meal bags will also be taken in, as long as they are separated accordingly.

Liam Moloney, CEO of the Irish Farm Film Producer Group (IFFPG), told the Irish Farmers Journal that the price of disposing of farm plastic will not increase for 2022, adding that 95% of the same recycling centres have been confirmed for this year.

“For the average farmer who produces 300 bales of silage, the total recycling cost is approximately €60, while the average distance to their local bring-centre is only 11km,” Moloney said.

Farm collections

Moloney also said that farmers who wish to avail of farm collections will pay double what they would pay at the bring-centre.

“It is approximately €100/t to get it collected,” he said.

Farmers who recycled plastic last year will receive a text message a week in advance notifying them of drop-off times for their local bring-centre.

According to the IFFPG, Irish farmers recycled the equivalent of 18m silage bale wraps last year, a record 90% recycling rate for farm plastics.

Over a third of collected material was supplied to Irish recyclers for processing into a range of new products.

In total, 37,000t of silage wrap and pit cover waste was recycled in 2021, 3,000t more than in 2020. IFFPG, a not-for-profit body, has recycled over 400,000t of farm plastics waste since its establishment in 1998.

The scheme is funded by both the farm plastics industry and farmers and is approved by the Minister for the Environment.