One man’s trash is another’s treasure they say. However, farmers in Starland County may have a little trouble finding someone to treasure their used grain bags for the foreseeable future.
Starland County was close to entering into an agreement with Merlin Plastics to recycle grain bags. However, recently Merlin Plastics informed the county they could not guarantee their facility would accept plastic, leaving Starland County nowhere to dispose of used grain bags.
“We have a lot of bags used in the area…so, we decided to make a drop off facility. People could bring their bags in and then we’d ship them to Merlin Plastics. We, as a county, didn’t want to be sitting on a mountain of plastic. I was pretty much told by one of their representatives that they wouldn’t be accepting any plastic,” said Alan Hampton, Agricultural Foreman with Starland County.
Merlin Plastics has a recycling facility south of Drumheller. Prior to the proposed agreement with Starland County, farmers had to bring their used grain bags in themselves.
Farmers are asked to take their used plastic to the Drumheller landfill, store it themselves, or, if they have no other alternative, bury it.
The amount of plastic, which cannot be recycled, is considerable.
“I know some farms deal with 30 or more bags per year, which is about 10 tonnes. Then there are a pile of farms that don’t use any. We did a survey two years ago to get a sense of how many grain bags we’d probably be dealing with. It was about 500,” said Hampton.
The bags cannot be burned, for they release toxic fumes and residue in a wide radius around the burn site. The residue can enter the surrounding soil and then be transferred up the food chain.
Grain bags are used by farmers to temporarily store grain. Their use has grown as storage capacities for grain have become relatively smaller.
“Farms have gotten to where they are bigger and storage is usually limited. Farmers are renting land, they’re going farther, have two or three combines, and bin capacity can’t keep up. With the bags, you can have a couple combines go pretty much constantly. You put your grain in, it expands, and then to pull your grain out you have to cut it open with an auger. By the time you’re done, you’ve got quite a pile of plastic,” said Hampton. “You use it once and then deal with the plastic after.”
Various authorities, including Starland County, are working on a solution so that farmers may dispose of their used bags.
“I’ve been assured they’re looking for a resolution,” said Hampton. “Service boards are pushing Crop Life Canada and the Government of Alberta to make something happen.”
